Gov. Brian Kemp appointed a new leader of the state’s Juvenile Justice Department on Thursday after his predecessor was ousted for lying under oath about his college education.
Kemp tapped Social Circle Police Chief Tyrone Oliver to replace Avery Niles as commissioner of the department, which supervises and regulates state offenders who are under age 21.
Niles tried to resign after he falsely claimed during a recent deposition for a 2017 lawsuit that he received an associate’s degree in criminal justice. He later said he “misspoke” by saying that he had the degree and that he corrected the error in the legal record.
The department's board chose not to accept his resignation and voted last week to immediately fire him.
Kemp said Oliver “will lead with integrity to ensure that Georgians in his care have the right tools to succeed and improve their lives for the better.”
Niles was one of many Gainesville-based appointees of then-Gov. Nathan Deal and had led the department since 2012 after serving 25 years with the Hall County Sheriff’s Office.
Over Niles’ tenure, he struggled with staff shortages at juvenile justice facilities and accusations the department mishandled claims of sexual harassment by staff from other employees — a widespread problem in state agencies.
Oliver is a former Newton County sheriff’s deputy and assistant commander of the Brookhaven Police Department who was hired in January 2016 to be the top cop in Social Circle, a town of about 5,000 people about 45 miles east of Atlanta.
