Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 10C
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Thursday, January 14,1W9
County rated No. 3 three for growth in nation
By Colby Jones
Staff Writer
’ Forsyth County grew faster than all
other counties in the nation last year bar
two, according to statistics from the U.S.
•Census Bureau.
. Forsyth’s 9.5 percent increase, bringing
the total population to 75,749 in 1997, fell
just under the 10 percent and 13 percent
increases experienced by Douglas, Colo.,
and Lincoln, S.D. Since 1990, Forsyth’s
population has increased 71.8 percent.
While the rapidly expanding metro area
MM *'WMfe «
- » ' Photo/Tom Brooks
New precinct dedicated
Citizen advisory board member Don Burkhardt, holding plaque, with wife, Bebe at left, was rec
ognized during a Wednesday morning gathering outside the Humane Society building. Below,
Duane Hattaway with the Humane Society accepts a plaque from Sheriff Denny Hendrix on
behalf of the society, as wife, Lynn, and other society officers, Thelma Jacobs and Donna
‘Vickery, took on. P „ bliM jui y 17, ms
Attorney files court complaint to obtain Sheriff’s credit check records'
By Michael Kurtz
Staff Writer
. A local attorney is turning to
• the courts to force the Forsyth
I County Sheriff’s office to release
»public documents related to law
- enforcement personnel requesting
the credit records of individuals.
; ‘ In a complaint for enforcement
• filed in Superior Court Tuesday,
; Rafe Banks said he wants the
; Sheriff’s office to turn over
; detailed invoices for credit
■ inquiries made through
• Trans Union Corporation.
• According to Banks’ com-
• plaint, the county has provided five
‘ month’s worth of invoices, the only
• ones they have.
• panics said he was working
the county attorney to get the
■ jftst of the information but as of
Wednesday, no documentation had
been provided by the Sheriff’s
office.
■ ;
'
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and the Ga. 400 pipeline are great for bring
ing new residents to Forsyth, one county
official expressed concern over how the
area will accommodate so many people.
“We’d like to bring that number down to
6 percent on average,” said County
Commission Chairman Bill Jenkins.
Needed road and water improvements
top the list of concerns, with some projects
such as a new water plant and the installa
tion of water lines to outlying areas already
in the works. Although roads easily handle
traffic during non-peak hours, Hwy. 20 and
The invoices the county does
have show reimbursement to
Trans Union Corporation for run
ning credit histories for the
Sheriff’s office.
Histories were run on several
county officials and their spouses,
former Sheriff’s office employees,
county contract holders and private
citizens.
Banks said he is asking for a
clarification of why these credit
ratings were pulled and under what
authority.
“We know certain ones were
pulled. We’re asking for the
Sheriff’s office to justify them.
There are also months where there
is no detailed information on what
was pulled. We want that informa
tion,” Banks said.
Banks said a number of his
clients have interpreted the credit
histories as improper requests.
Under Federal law, consumer
reporting agencies can furnish
BEST STORIES OF '9B
Hwy. 141 become especially strained at
rush hours. Solutions for improving these
roads will be harder to come by since the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
has suspended federal money from Forsyth
and 12 other metro counties for ground
level ozone non-compliance levels.
Jenkins said the community will need to
work together to handle the growth and
cited voters’ extension of the Special
Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST)
as a step in the right direction.
Baptist North Hospital Administrator
reports only in response to a court
order, if the information is used for
employment purposes or with writ
ten permission of the person to
whom the history relates.
Four of the people who had cred
it histories run by the Sheriff’s office
said they have never given verbal or
written permission for the office to
obtain credit information and have
never applied for jobs there.
Banks said he is unaware of
any court orders allowing the
Sheriff’s office to make the credit
inquiries as part of criminal inves
tigations.
Sheriff Denny Hendrix said he
consulted with the county attor
ney after he found out about
Banks’ inquiries and doesn’t
think he did anything wrong.
“Rachel Iverson told me I have
violated no laws,” Hendrix said.
He added that his employees
checked with other agencies,
including the attorney general,
Voters approve SPLOST
extension by 65 percent
By Sheri Toomey
Staff Writer and Lifestyle Editor
Forsyth County residents
Tuesday passed the referendum
extending the special sales tax.
County and city officials said
they were glad to see these results.
“This will enable Forsyth
County to put itself in a better
position and improve much need
ed infrastructure,” said
Commission Chairman Bill
Jenkins, who added he wanted to
thank the voters for their support.
“I’m ecstatic that the voters
Federal Bureau of Investigation
and Georgia Bureau of
Investigation. According to
Hendrix, credit histories are pulled
on a regular basis especially during
the investigation of “white collar
crimes.”
“It’s a tool during investigations
used all over this country,” he said.
Iverson said she told the sheriff
THANK YOU i
BIG MOOOOOCH
FORSYTH COUNTY
FOR A RECORD
1998
Eat BL r
Mor V I
Chickin
WE-WON A CAR *
• SOLD A BUNCH OF CHICKEN AND §
- HELPED FUNDRAISERS
‘f
At Lanier Crossing •
Cumming 770-781-5256 $
Keep Watching The Paper For Mope About Chick-Fjl-A In 199,9!
John Herron said the U.S. Census report
allows four new beds at to be added at that
facility.
But, ready or not, the population boom
should continue. The Georgia Mountain
Regional Development Center predicts
Forsyth’s population will exceed 110,000
by the year 2000.
“It’s a wonderful place to work and live,
and I’m convinced that there’s no better
place to raise a family in the state,” said
Jenkins.
Forsyth was the state’s fastest growing
have come in with Forsyth County
supporting the SPLOST,” said
Commissioner John Kieffer. “Now
that the voters have supported the
SPLOST, we have the responsibil
ity to make sure every tax dollar is
spent efficiently and bring these
projects online as soon as possi
ble.”
Commissioner Lamar Suddeth
said the county would start work
ing on the projects and finish them
as quickly as possible.
Commissioner Julian Bowen
said he thought the voters had
made a wise decision.
Published March 18,1998
she was unaware of any agency
being prosecuted for illegally
pulling credit ratings.
She added, however, that her
statement was made during a gen
eral conversation about the Fair
Credit Reporting Act and she has
not researched the topic or formed
a legal opinion about the Sheriff’s
office actions.
county from 1990-97 and the nation’s
fastest growing during 1996. That’s a’fte
cry from 1950, when the county’s enit|»s
population was 11,005, down from nearly
12,000 in 1910. ??
Paulding and Henry also made the
the nation’s seventh and ninth fastest grcAP
ing counties, with population
7.7 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively." *
Published March 20,1998
Commissioner Andy Anderson
agreed.
“It was vitally important that
this referendum pass so needed
infrastructure improvements could
be financially supported without
addressing the millage rate. As a
community, this was an important
step forward in our ability to deal
with the growth issues that face us
today,” said Anderson.
Mayor Ford Gravitt said we’re
looking forward to working on
these projects and making sure the
See SPLOST, Page 12C
Hendrix could not be reached
for a clarification of his statement
regarding the county attorney ,or
for comment on Banks’ complaint
Banks said he is still waiting
for a response from the Sheriff's
office before deciding how to pro
ceed.
Published July 17,1998 ‘ ‘