The ethics board investigating Gwinnett County Commissioner Tommy Hunter will make its decision public next week.
The board held its final hearing in the Hunter case Wednesday morning. The hearing included attorney arguments and testimony from the woman who filed the ethics complaint over the Hunter's controversial social media activity — including the Jan. 14 post in which he referred to U.S. Rep. John Lewis as a "racist pig."
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The ethics board met for about 45 minutes following the hearing and said it had reached a decision — but would not announce it until a future meeting, after the board's attorney had put their thoughts in writing.
That meeting will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, officials announced Thursday.
“We will consider the written decision that is being drafted and then vote on it,” ethics board chairman David Will said, “with the written decision including findings, conclusions and recommendations to the [Board of Commissioners].”
If the ethics board chooses to sustain the complaint against Hunter, the only penalties it could recommend under the county’s ethics ordinance would be “written warning, censure or reprimand to be issued in public.”
The board does not have the authority to recommend Hunter be suspended or removed from office.
Hunter, who refused to answer questions at Wednesday's hearing by taking Georgia's version of the Fifth Amendment, recently hired an attorney to represent him. That attorney has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Gwinnett's ethics board.
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