Dougherty officials set qualifying fees

ALBANY — The seats occupied by Dougherty County Commission Chairman Chris Cohilas and three members of the County Commission will be up for re-election May 22 when the county holds elections.

Qualifying for the chairman’s seat occupied by Cohilas and the seats held by John Hayes (District 2), Ewell Lyle (District 4) and Anthony Jones (District 6) will be held 9 a.m.-5 p.m. March 5-8 and 9 a.m.-noon on March 9. Qualifying will be conducted by the county’s Democratic and Republican party chairmen at sites not yet determined.

The County Commission set qualifying fees at its business meeting Monday morning. The fees, which remained unchanged, are $324 to qualify for the chairman’s seat and $288 to run for commission seats.

County Clerk Jawahn Ware told commissioners at the meeting that the county also will set fees for candidates qualifying for the Dougherty County Board of Education’s districts 2, 4 and 6 seats. Those seats are currently held by Milton Griffin (2), Melissa Strother (4) and Dean Phinazee (6).

Qualifying fees are determined using a formula that takes into account reimbursements for the positions sought. Ware said that the School Board’s recent vote to give itself a raise would not impact fees for the current election cycle.

“I had read that they voted themselves a raise, so I checked specifically if their qualifying fees would be impacted,” Ware said. “I was told (by officials in the Secretary of State’s office) that the fees would change, but it will not affect them this year.”

The School Board’s raise will not be official until approved by the state legislature’s Local Legislation Committee and then by both houses of the General Assembly. Local Legislation generally accepts the recommendation of an area’s legislative delegation, provided that recommendation is unanimous. The recommendation is generally presented to Local Legislation by the senior member of a delegation, but there is reportedly discussion ongoing about who will present the recommended raise for the School Board to the Local Legislation Committee.

The General Assembly generally grants approval once Local Legislation OKs the measure.