Senior assistant AG named ethics commission chief

Stefan Ritter, an 18-year veteran of Georgia’s Attorney General’s Office, was elected Tuesday as the new head of the state ethics commission.

Ritter, 54, a Decatur resident, was chosen over three other candidates in a unanimous vote of the commission, formally known as the Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission.

Ritter is currently the head of the AG’s Education, Elections, Local Government & Judiciary Section, and for several years has served as the commission’s legal counsel. He also has extensive knowledge of the state’s Open Records Act and Open Meetings Act.

The other finalists for the job, chosen from 72 applications, were:

  • Heather Ramsey Ryfa, a former senior assistant attorney general who now serves as chief staff attorney for the Governor's Office of Consumer Protection.
  • Cheston Roney, court administrator and clerk for the City of Sandy Springs Municipal Court.
  • Jeffrey Ledford, director of staff support for the Workforce Division of the Department of Economic Development. Ledford worked for the commission as a senior analyst from 1998 to 2004.

The commission has been without an executive director since September, when the board fired Holly LaBerge.

LaBerge's exit came after a Fulton County Superior Court judge sanctioned and fined her $10,000. Judge Ural Glanville said LaBerge had been "dishonest and nontransparent" over the course of a whistleblower lawsuit filed by her predecessor. LaBerge has appealed Glanville's order.