Incumbent Dougherty County commissioners sworn in for new four-year terms

ALBANY — The Dougherty County Commission welcomed three members returning in 2025 to new four-year terms with the Monday swearing-in ceremony for Commissioners Gloria Gaines, Clinton Johnson and Ed Newsome.

Gaines was sworn in for her fifth term, while Johnson took the oath of office for the fourth time. Newsome was re-elected in the fall to a second term. Dougherty County Probate Judge Leisa Blount swore in the three returning members during the commission’s Monday meeting.

“I am looking forward (to another term in office),” Gaines said during a telephone interview. “I think it’s probably going to be my most exciting term. I think we have some projects in mind that will come to fruition in the next four years.”

As chair of the Government Affairs Committee, Gaines said she is looking forward to completing the rewriting of the county’s Code of Ordinances. Last year the section on vegetation was completed, and other sections coming up include animal control.

“We’ll look at our zoning ordinances and all the other ordinances that guide us,” Gaines said. “I look forward to our new county administrator’s guidance as well.”

Another project Gaines is promoting is a “live, work, play” housing development on 18 acres the county owns near Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital. The land and building located on the property were owned by the Georgia National Guard, which donated the assets to the county.

“We’re all aware of the expansion of the Phoebe campus and the impact that will have on the city,” Gaines said.

Among actions taken by the board during the meeting, the commission approved accepting an Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant in the amount of $248,000. The funds will be used to support the operation of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Southwest Regional Drug Enforcement Office in Albany.

The office was relocated from Sylvester to Albany in 2019.

During 2024, the GBI unit made 169 arrests and seized illegal substances valued at $5.7 million, Eric Schwalls, the GBI special agent in charge at the office, told a Herald reporter. Of the 180 cases opened during 2024, 77 were in Dougherty County.

As Dougherty County is the business hub of southwest Georgia, so it is the hub of drug activity for the 42 counties served through the Albany office, Schwalls said.

“We work a lot of cases in those surrounding counties that tie back to Dougherty County, so we’re helping Dougherty County and those other counties,” he said.

The grant funds can be used for expenses, including utilities and office supplies as well as equipment for officers. The office currently has four full-time GBI agents and six agents appointed to the task force from various law enforcement agencies in the 42 counties.