Judge Calls For Daily Fines After Fulton County Panel Refuses To Seat GOP Picks For Election Board

By Maya Homan, Georgia Recorder

August 28, 2025

The Fulton County Board of Commissioners has been held in civil contempt of court after defying a court order mandating that they appoint two GOP nominees to the county board of elections.

In a Wednesday ruling, Senior Superior Court Judge David Emerson said the county will be fined $10,000 per day until the board agrees to approve Julie Adams and Jason Frazier’s appointments to the elections board.

“The court finds beyond a reasonable doubt that the Board of Commissioners has failed to comply with this court’s order,” Emerson wrote in his ruling.

The judge declined to hold any of the commissioners in criminal contempt of court, but ordered that the board of commissioners must pay the Fulton County Republican Party’s legal fees in the case. While normally the fees would be paid to the county government, Emerson said the fines would instead be paid to the superior court clerk and transferred to the state of Georgia.

The ruling is the latest development in a case that stretches back to May, when the Fulton County Republican Party attempted to nominate Adams, an incumbent board member, and Frazier, a newcomer, to the county board of elections.

The Democratic-led board of commissioners voted 5-2 to reject the nominations, citing concerns about Adams and Frazier’s past actions and arguing that they were not qualified for the position. During her first term as an elections board member, Adams refused to certify the results of the 2024 primary until Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled that she was required to do so. Frazier, a right-wing activist, has singlehandedly challenged the voter registrations of tens of thousands of Georgia residents, and was one of the main proponents of a series of last-minute State Election Board rule changes, some of which were ultimately struck down by the state Supreme Court.

In June, the Fulton County Republican Party filed a lawsuit in Fulton County Superior Court, claiming that commissioners do not have the power to reject nominations from political parties. State law says the members of the board “shall” appoint two members appointed by each major party, while the chair is appointed by the board of commissioners. The debate over the meaning of the word “shall” was also at the center of the 2024 case over Adams’ refusal to certify election results.

In an Aug. 3 ruling, Emerson sided with the Fulton County Republican Party, ordering the commissioners to approve the nominations.

“There is nothing in the statute to support the BOC theory that the county commissioners can veto the chairperson’s nominees other than for failure of the nominee to meet the two qualifications and one restriction,” Emerson wrote.

Fulton County Commissioner Dana Barrett. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder

But when the board reconvened on Aug. 20 for another vote to approve Adams and Frazier, the measure once again failed, with Commissioners Dana Barrett and Mo Ivory casting votes against the nomination. Three other members of the commission were absent on the day of the vote. The Fulton County GOP then filed a request for the commissioners to be ruled in contempt of court.

Fulton GOP officials have been attempting to appoint Frazier to the Fulton County elections board since 2023, but faced roadblocks getting Frazier approved by the county commissioners, leading the GOP to file a similar lawsuit in 2023. However, they ultimately withdrew the suit according to court records, nominating Adams instead. This time, it appears, they could be more successful.

“The local legislation does not include language authorizing the Commission to veto the selection of any qualified nominee, nor does it authorize the Commission to require any specific number of nominees,” Emerson wrote in his ruling Wednesday.

Georgia Republican Party Chair Josh McKoon, who had called for Emerson to jail the commissioners who rejected the Republican appointees, applauded the court’s decision.

“Our major victory today could not have been possible without our partners — the RNC and the Fulton County Republican Party,” McKoon said in a statement. “Thank you to former RNC Chairman Michael Whatley, current RNC Chairman Joe Gruters, Fulton County Chair Stephanie Endres, and of course Julie Adams and Jason Frazier for your steadfast leadership that made this win possible.”

Ivory, one of the commissioners who voted against Adams and Frazier’s appointments, condemned Emerson’s ruling.

“Today’s court ruling is deeply concerning because it attempts to strip elected officials of the very power and discretion that come with the office,” she said in a statement. “If our role is reduced to automatic approval, then the voice of the people who chose us is silenced. This is not about politics—it is about principle. My duty is to safeguard our democracy, and I stand firmly by the decision I made.”

Ivory did not respond to questions about whether she would vote to approve Adams and Frazier’s appointments. Barrett did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Fair Fight, a voter advocacy organization, expressed relief that Emerson did not impose jail time on the commissioners who voted against the GOP’s appointments.

“It’s good to see courts not bowing to the Republican Party’s authoritarian thirst,” said Fair Fight CEO Lauren Groh-Wargo. “Let’s be clear: the GOP is trying to criminalize democracy itself, demanding elected officials be held in criminal contempt and face jail time for doing their jobs.”

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