Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat is suing county leadership because the County is interfering with his ability to purchase vital safety and life saving supplies. Balch Law Group is honored to represent Sheriff Labat in his efforts to protect the people of Fulton County and in standing for the Rule of Law and against the efforts of…
Local governments across the state routinely say within the 3 day deadline of the Open Records Act, ‘We need more time to time to obtain the documents or review the documents and here is our self imposed deadline for when we will get the materials for what you requested,’ that routinely happens in all 159…
The firm was proud to represent the City of Canton and a number of its employees in a suit brought by Venture Capital, Inc. (“VCI”). VCI was in the business of processing fats, oils, and grease into usable post-consumer commodities such as bio fuels. VCI applied for and received a permit from the City of…
The citizens of the new City of Mulberry, in Gwinnett County, recently approved the adoption of their New City Charter. There are lots of steps that make up leading to a new city, and these leaders and citizens have navigated two of the hardest: (1) Getting a Bill passed by the Legislature that allows voters…
Our firm was asked by the International Municipal Lawyers Association, the Georgia Association County Commissioners, and Georgia Municipal Association to file a brief in support of a petition for review by the United States Supreme Court by former Muscogee County Sheriff’s Department Correctional Officer Keyvon Sellers. Earlier this year Officer Sellers was denied qualified immunity…
Balch Law Group successfully defends Investigators with the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office in a challenge from the Columbus Consolidated Government (“CCG”) to the production of information gathered pursuant to 6 search warrants. Sheriff’s Investigators are looking into allegations of financial mismanagement by CCG pursuant to a request by the Governing Authority of the Consolidated Government….
MAYOR BIANCA MOTLEY BROOM FILES PETITION AGAINST THE CITY OF COLLEGE PARK FOR VIOLATION OF CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL RIGHTS PRESS RELEASE from Mayor Motley Broom [Fulton County, GA – March 1, 2024] – On March 1, Mayor Bianca Motley Broom, both in her individual and official capacity as Mayor of the City of College Park,…
CBS Mornings recently reported on Brookhaven, Georgia’s Police Department’s ground breaking drone program, illustrating how drones can be used by law enforcement. But what does it really take to implement a drone program that protects civil liberties? A city council voting on policy and a police department building a program are the final steps in…
The Firm is proud to have been asked to represent Mayor Bianca Motley Broom in a politically motivated and unfounded ethics complaint filed by two members of the City Council. We submitted a substantive response to the allegations made by the complainants on June 23 challenging the timeliness, procedural effectiveness, and merits of the complaint….
Our firm was proud to present to the International Municipal Lawyers Association Mid-Year Seminar in Washington, DC in April. In tandem with Brookhaven Police Lieutenant Abrem Ayana, we presented on the policies, procedures, and operational guidelines governing the Brookhaven program. Our work on behalf of local governments has always been at the forefront of the…
March 7 is a day that will be remembered in Brookhaven for decades as the day the City closed on the funding for its generational plans to establish a sense of place and a City Center with work on the New City Hall at the Brookhaven/Oglethorpe MARTA station. Following 2 years of negotiation and engagement…
The firm’s local government law philosophy is to work with elected and appointed officials and to provide a pathway to accomplishing the policy goals they set for their city or county while assuring they are in compliance with their city’s or county’s charter and state and federal law. Sometimes it’s very hard to do both….