The chairman of the state ethics commission is serving illegally and should resign, a government watchdog said, making a claim disputed by the governor.
George Anderson, executive director of the Rome-based Ethics in Government Group, said commission chairman Patrick Millsaps had already completed one term in office when Gov. Nathan Deal reappointed him to a four-year term in February. Commission members cannot serve more than one complete term of office, according to state law.
"[Millsaps] should know the law dealing with the Ethics and Government Act, and he should know, especially having served one term," Anderson said.
The disagreement is over whether Millsaps served a complete term. In February 2009, then-Gov. Sonny Perdue appointed Millsaps to the commission to succeed Emmett Bowers, whose term had expired two years earlier. Millsaps served just two years of a four-year term.
Deal spokesman Brian Robinson said the governor is convinced the Millsaps appointment is legal.
"We reviewed the code with Mr. Millsaps before the reappointment and legal counsel came to the conclusion the reappointment was allowed because Mr. Millsaps had not served a full term," Robinson said. "And the code says he cannot serve more than one term. We felt in this case the code allowed the reappointment."
Millsaps declined comment, but said he will make a statement when the commission meets Friday. The commission has asked for guidance from Attorney General Sam Olens. Olens' spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rick Thompson, a former commission executive director, said he believes the answer is up for interpretation.
"It comes down to a legal interpretation of what that term ‘complete' means," said Thompson, who advises elected officials on managing the state ethics law and counts Deal as a client. "I had the same question when I was there. It makes sense either way."
Yasha Heidari, a private attorney who previously served on the commission staff, said he believes Millsaps is improperly serving, but not for the reasons Anderson laid out in his complaint.
State law also states when a commissioner's term expires a new member shall be appointed, Heidari said. He added that courts would find that wording to be significant. Millsaps, whether he served two or four years previously, was not a new member when Deal reappointed him.
"I believe the adjective in the statute ‘new' makes it unequivocally clear that Patrick Millsap's reappointment was improper because he is, by definition, not a new member," Heidari said.
Also, the commission also will consider a proposed overhaul of the agency that would farm out some duties to a private attorney, hire a new auditor and lean more on the Olens' office for investigative help.
Vice Chairman Josh Belinfante and Millsaps believe the agency would operate more efficiently and ease pressure on its tighter budget.
The commission went through a shakeup in June when current executive director Stacey Kalberman agreed to resign once her replacement is found. Kalberman's top deputy's position was eliminated by the commission as the two women worked on an investigation into Deal's campaign finances, but the commission said the job loss was not related.
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