Cobb Law Firm Tapped To Redraw Cobb's School District Maps

COBB COUNTY, GA — The Cobb County School District Board of Education voted to hire law firm Taylor English Duma LLP to help in the process of reapportionment — but school board Democrats, who voted against the hiring, said they are concerned about the firm's ability to draw nonpartisan maps.

Every 10 years, or after every decennial census, political lines are redrawn based on the population results of the census, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Apportionment was created to determine how many U.S. House of Representatives seats each state gets based on the updated populations.

But at the local level, governing entities like the Cobb County Board of Commissioners and the school board will also have the opportunity to redraw their own district lines, though typically the state legislature — which is majority Republican in Georgia — takes the reins on redrawing all maps.

Local entities would then have to send it to the Cobb County Legislative Delegation for approval, which can then use those maps or choose to draw its own, but the full General Assembly and Gov. Brian Kemp have final say on new maps.

The school board voted 4-3 last week to approve the hiring of the firm, with all three Democrats voting against it. Board Member Charisse Davis, a Democrat, raised objections over former Republican state Rep. Earl Ehrhart's affiliation with Taylor English Duma.

Ehrhart is the CEO of Taylor English Decisions, the law firm's consulting arm. He's married to current state Rep. Ginny Ehrhart, R-Powder Springs — who also previously denounced Davis in 2019 and accused her of being "the most bigoted board member to ever sit on the Cobb Board of Education," The Marietta Daily Journal reported.

Board Chair Randy Scamihorn, a Republican, was the one who suggested the board hire Taylor English Duma. He said he picked the firm because of its client history with both Democrats and Republicans, and "didn't want to make this political."

"Representative [Earl] Ehrhart had maps rejected by a federal judge because of them being racially biased, so that's a huge problem," Davis said. "This is really concerning, if someone who’s leading the organization had maps thrown out because they were biased. I mean, that’s what we’re here for, to ensure that we have fair maps, and so this is not going to be that."

According to The MDJ, Ehrhart denied that allegation last Friday.

Jaha Howard and Tre Hutchins, the other two Democratic school board members, said they shared Davis's concerns. Hutchins added that he felt he didn't have enough information or time to make an informed decision on hiring the firm.

Scamihorn argued that Taylor English Decisions was not the company the board hired, so the concern was irrelevant. Taylor English Duma LLP is separate, but still a branch of Taylor English Decisions.

"The marquee says Taylor English. It doesn't say Ehrhart. Ehrhart is not involved in what we're doing, and all we're trying to do is make sure we have a firm that knows what we need to do and what we're doing," Scamihorn said.

Additionally, Taylor English Duma was the law firm hired to defend Georgia's election integrity in last year's lawsuit between the state and former President Donald Trump — but Trump campaign also hired the same firm to challenge the state's election results, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. That lawsuit was eventually thrown out.

Scamihorn told The MDJ he would ask the board for another vote if the cost estimate for the reapportionment help exceeds $200,000.