Judge Denies Warrant Application Against County Commission Chairman

From Barnesville.com a visiting judge made short work of an effort by James Hyde to take out criminal warrants against county commission chairman Ryran Traylor and commissioner Nancy Thrash last week.

A hearing on the warrant applications was held in magistrate court Oct. 30. Chief magistrate Paul Kunst brought in visiting judge Melanie Bell to hear the applications in that the commission sets his budget.

Bell is chief magistrate and probate judge in Newton County.

Hyde claimed Traylor and Thrash violated Georgia law when they made decisions regarding the Lamar County Regional Solid Waste Authority in December 2023 and January 2024 because “they had a financial interest’ in the authority. Both were on the authority board at the time and received per diem payments from the authority as did other authority members.

Judge Bell ruled there was no probable cause to proceed with criminal warrants and dismissed the applications. She also called out Hyde and witness Elaine Hallada several times for questioning and talking over her.

Hyde ran against Traylor in the commission chairman’s race in the 2022 Republican primary. Traylor was the victor in that race with 1870 votes to 1214 for Hyde.