Suspended Worth sheriff Jeff Hobby indicted on 90 counts

SYLVESTER — Jeff Hobby, who was suspended last year from his position as the Worth County sheriff, was indicted Tuesday of 90 counts related to eavesdropping and oath of office violation charges recently filed against him.

The indictment includes one count of violation of oath of office by a public officer and 89 counts of invasion of privacy for the production of audio and video recordings in the attorney-client room of the Worth County Jail.

The indictment states that, on July 12, 2017, Hobby “did authorize an audio and video recording device to be placed in a room at the Worth County Jail, which is routinely used for attorney-client interviews, and failed to notify attorneys and their clients of the use of said recording device to record attorney-client communications,” leading to the oath of office violation.

The invasion of privacy counts stem from the recording of conversations in the jail’s attorney-client interview room from July 20, 2017 to Feb. 27 of this year. The counts state a device was used “without the consent of all persons observed” to record the activities in the room, “a private place, out of public view,” that was used by 13 attorneys and their clients.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in March that Hobby had been arrested after turning himself in at the Worth County Jail after being initially charged with 66 counts of eavesdropping and surveillance which invades privacy of another, and one count of violation of oath by a public officer.

He had been suspended from his position as sheriff in November, leading Gov. Nathan Deal to immediately appoint Bobby Sapp to serve as the county’s sheriff. Per an executive order from Deal, retired Georgia State Patrol Trooper Donald Whitaker became interim sheriff on March 23 after Sapp submitted a letter of resignation for medical reasons.

The interim sheriff is to serve until the disposition of charges against Hobby or the expiration of his term in office, whichever comes first. Hobby was re-elected in 2016 to serve a four-year term.

Hobby has been under fire since a drug search at Worth County High School on April 14 of last year prompted a lawsuit from the Southern Center for Human Rights.