Multimillion-dollar settlement agreement reached in Worth drug search

ATLANTA — A multimillion-dollar class-action settlement has been reached in K.A., et al. v. Jeff Hobby, et al., a federal civil rights lawsuit that challenged a mass, and alleged invasive, search of approximately 850 public high school students by Worth County Sheriff’s deputies on April 14, according to the Southern Center for Human Rights.

“The total settlement fund will be $3 million,” a SCHR press release said. “Which is the limit of the defendants’ insurance policy.”

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit alleged that now-suspended Worth Sheriff Jeff Hobby and his deputies violated the United States and Georgia Constitutions by conducting intrusive body searches of hundreds of Worth County High School students without probable cause.

At least nine students alleged that deputies touched their genitals, sometimes under their clothing.

Hobby was indicted in connection to the incident on Oct. 3.

According to the indictment: “Jeff Hobby on or about the 14th day of April, 2017, in violation of O.C.G.A. 16-10-1 (violation of oath by public officer), O.C.G.A. 16-622.1 (d) (sexual battery against a child under age 16), O.C.G.A. 16-5-42 (false imprisonment under color of law), and O.C.G.A. 16-6-22.1 (b) (sexual battery), did, then and there, being duly-elected sheriff, a public officer with the Worth County Sheriff’s Office, unlawfully, willfully and intentionally violate the terms of his oath as prescribed by law, in that he did swear to ‘support the Constitutions of the United States and of this state’ and then did order deputies under his employ to search students present at Worth County High School without probable cause or any other legal basis and without due process, in violation of the Constitution of the United States and its amendments and the Constitution of the state of Georgia, contrary to the laws of said state, the good order, peace and dignity thereof.”

Officials with SCHR stated that throughout the mass search, which was ostensibly to discover drugs, students were prevented from contacting their parents, even though no illegal drugs or paraphernalia were discovered.

The incident was captured on high-resolution surveillance video.

“The students’ voices have been heard,” SCHR attorney Crystal Redd said. “Their rights were violated on April 14, and they took the steps to ensure that these illegal searches would not go unnoticed.”

According to the SCHR press release, the $3 million settlement, for the class of the approximately 850 students who were subjected to the searches, is still pending approval by Federal District Court, but if approved, each class member would receive a monetary award of between $1,000 and $6,000, with those students subjected to more invasive searches receiving higher amounts.

Once any outstanding claims are resolved and attorney fees equal to 15 percent of the fund are paid, half of any remaining money will be paid into a fund for the benefit of Worth County High School students, the SCHR officials said in the release.

“This settlement is a victory for the hundreds of Worth County students whose constitutional rights were violated,” said Mark Begnaud, an attorney with Atlanta-based civil rights law firm Horsley Begnaud. “We hope that this multimillion-dollar settlement will send the message to law enforcement officials everywhere that abuse of power will not be tolerated.”

Gov. Nathan Deal announced Monday his decision to suspend Hobby, effective immediately, and appointed Sheriff Bobby Sapp as his interim replacement.

“Yesterday, at 2:30 p.m., I received a call from Gov. Deal’s office asking me to serve as the interim sheriff during Sheriff Hobby’s temporarily vacated position,” Sapp said in a press release Wednesday morning. “I informed the Governor’s Office that I was willing to help in any way that I could and accepted the governor’s request. I was administered the oath of Sheriff by Judge (Virginia) Accord, the Probate Judge for Worth County, yesterday at 4:30 p.m.”

Sapp served Worth County as Chief Deputy under Sheriff Freddie Tomkins and Hobby until his retirement on Jan. 31.