Columbus government employees under possible criminal investigation, letter from DA shows

Unidentified Columbus Consolidated Government employees are under possible criminal investigation, according to a letter from the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s office obtained by the Ledger-Enquirer.

A letter from Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Don Kelly shows he has asked that his office be recused from the investigation, and confirms the local sheriff’s office has been investigating. Kelly wrote the letter last month to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia.

“I have been contacted by Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office regarding an investigation involving possible criminal acts of certain Columbus Consolidated Government employees,” Kelly wrote in the letter.

The letter doesn’t list the names of the CCG employees or describe possible crimes, but identifies three of the employees by title: the finance director, the human resources director and a deputy city manager.

“I do not feel comfortable handling this case because these three individuals make decisions about employment and budget issues for my office,” Kelly wrote in the letter.

Kelly elaborated on his recusal request in a statement Friday.

“Last month, I was consulted regarding a ongoing investigation,” he said. “Because our office is, in part, funded by the City of Columbus, I concluded that any legal advice or consultation should come from an outside attorney to avoid the appearance of impropriety. At that point, I referred the matter to the Prosecuting Attorney’s Council.”

The city’s current finance director is Angelica Alexander. The HR director is Reather Hollowell. The city has two deputy city managers: Pam Hodge and Lisa Goodwin. While their titles were listed, the Ledger-Enquirer wasn’t able to confirm if any of the four are involved in the investigation.

Hodge told the Ledger-Enquirer that, to her knowledge, she isn’t under criminal investigation and nobody has informed her otherwise.

Alexander, Hollowell and Goodwin didn’t respond to requests for comment before publication.