Clayton Sheriff Victor Hill uses chaplains to reach voters, AJC finds
Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill routinely uses chaplains in his department to reach potential voters, and an Atlanta Journal-Constitution review of departmental emails found that the sheriff's staff is also using a taxpayer-funded public safety messaging service to build a database of residents that includes personal contact information and their voting precincts.
In October, Hill hired as a chaplain his former political consultant, Rev. Mitzi Bickers, who ran field operations for the sheriff’s 2012 campaign.
The emails reviewed by the AJC show that a spreadsheet with personal information of more than 28,000 people was shared between Bickers and an employee in her political consulting firm. Hill did not respond to AJC questions about why the data is being collected and why it was shared with a political consultant.
Bickers is a central figure in the ongoing federal bribery investigation at Atlanta City Hall, where she worked as a manager for three years after working for Mayor Kasim Reed’s 2009 political campaign.
About the Authors
Dan Klepal is editor of the local government team, supervising nine reporters covering county and municipal governments and metro Atlanta. Klepal came to the AJC in 2012, after a long career covering city halls in Cincinnati and Louisville, Ky. He has covered Gwinnett and Cobb counties before spending three years on the investigative team.
