BRUNSWICK, Ga. — Glynn County is no longer providing payroll services to the Brunswick judicial district attorney following months of failed payments.
The Glynn County Commission was first notified of a missed invoice in November 2023. The District Attorney's Office has failed to reimburse the county every month since then.
District Attorney Keith Higgins oversees five counties in Georgia, including Camden and Glynn counties. His office receives funding from those five county governments, the state, and grants. That money goes into one budget for salaries and operation costs.
Glynn County provides payroll services for the District Attorney's Office, and the office is supposed to reimburse the county every month.
During a July 16 special commission meeting, Higgins addressed the budget issue with commissioners. According to Higgins, he was not made aware of the missed payments until February 2024. By then, he hired three new employees. He said his staff miscalculated the funds available to hire more assistant district attorneys and they did not immediately notify him of the problem.
Higgins went before the commissioners on July 16 to come up with a solution. At that time, his office owed $883,262.68 in outstanding payments. Higgins proposed using money his office receives from court fees and the asset forfeiture fund. He also asked the commissioners to create a supplemental budget in the amount of 41% of the unreimbursed funds. Higgins said the unreimbursed money was still used to serve Glynn County, which has the largest population of all five counties under the district attorney.
Glynn County commissioners decided to continue negotiations with Higgins. Those negotiations lasted into September 2024; however, on Sept. 3, Glynn County Attorney Aaron Mumford gave Higgins a deadline of Sept. 5 to come to an agreement. An agreement was never reached, so Mumford notified Higgins payroll services would be stopped by the pay period ending on Sept. 7, 2024 with the pay date of Sept. 12, 2024.
The district attorney's office now owes Glynn County $936,753.28, but that does not include payroll services through Sept. 7.
Chairman of the Glynn County Commission Wayne Neal said this decision was "not made lightly." In a statement he said, “we have spent many months working diligently with the District Attorney’s Office to resolve this matter in a way that ensures fiscal responsibility and protects the interests of Glynn County’s taxpayers. Unfortunately, without a viable plan to address the outstanding debt and safeguard future payments, we were forced to act.”
Higgins will now have to find a third party payroll processor. Glynn County will also reimburse that company directly for payroll services related to any employees working on Glynn County cases.
First Coast News reached out to Higgins for a comment, but he has not responded.
The district attorney's office also owes Camden County $58,258.75 for payroll reimbursements missed in July 2023, May and June 2024. Camden County provides payroll services for four of the district attorney employees working in the county.
