COVINGTON, Ga. — Former coroner Tommy Davis has been appointed to serve as interim Newton County coroner “until his successor is duly elected and qualified,” county officials said today, May 26.

Probate Judge Melanie Bell appointed Davis to replace his successor, Dorothea Bailey-Butts, who said she was resigning as Newton County coroner on Friday, May 28, at 8 a.m.

“Whereas the vacancy has arisen unexpectedly and prior to the end of Bailey-Butts’s elected term, an appointment … has been made to fill the vacancy as outlined in (state law),” according to a statement the county government released today.

It said that Davis, who served three terms as coroner from 2008 to 2020, “has been appointed … to serve the office of interim coroner until his successor is duly elected and qualified. 

“His experience and familiarity with the position as the previous coroner allows for a seamless transition in this critical office,” the statement said.

It said a special election for the job will be scheduled between 120 and 365 days from May 28, 2021 — or between Sept. 25, 2021, and May 28, 2022.

Coroner is a law enforcement position responsible for such tasks as investigating suspicious deaths and producing death certificates. 

Bailey-Butts, a registered nurse and Democrat, won the job after defeating Davis, a Republican, in his bid for a fourth term in November. 

She began her term on Jan. 1 and it has been marred by controversy at times, including County Manager Lloyd Kerr's request to a state coroner's training board that it remove her from office.

Numerous complaints on social media also focused on an envelope she showed county commissioners in January that she said contained damaging information.

She showed the envelope to commissioners during a presentation she made during a public meeting in which she asked for funds for training and new office space. However, she never publicly disclosed the contents and rejected open records requests because she said it was her personal property.

TV news stations also ran a video of her refusing to transport a body from a wreck scene — an action previous coroners reportedly typically had done.

Kerr alleged in his request to the Georgia Coroner's Training Council that it needed to remove her from office because of a series of alleged actions, including improper removal of a suicide victim — which she denied.

The state Attorney General's Office later told Training Council officials they had no authority to remove Bailey-Butts from office because she had not gone through training courses required for the position when the actions Kerr alleged had occurred.

The coroner alleged in a posting on her Facebook page Tuesday, May 25, that “the people who are supposed to help me carry out my tasks well, are making things very difficult.”

She also said, "There were too many scandals and issues about how I do my duties which mainly comes from the fact that I am Black. 

“There were even issues with my office space, my deputies, and other stuff which weren’t a problem with the previous coroner.”

The county government responded in its statement today that said the Newton County Board of Commissioners and members of its staff “worked with Bailey-Butts to ensure the needs of the residents of Newton County were met.”

An amendment of $50,000 was made to the coroner’s budget in January for operating supplies and any additional training that was needed, the statement said.  

“Bailey-Butts was also in the process of moving to a larger office to accommodate the needs she expressed to the Board of Commissioners and the county manager.

“Newton County firmly denies any claims of lack of support to the coroner’s office and any allegations of discrimination based on gender or race.”

The complete posting on Bailey-Butts’ Facebook page Tuesday, May 25:

Corruption in the coroner office:

It’s very disheartening when your passion, your dream job that you’ve been working your whole life for, gets little to no support from the people around you. I have put my heart, soul, and even risked my life for this job hoping to serve this county the best that I can. But it’s been very difficult to do my job well when people I work with do everything they can to sabotage me. That’s why I am officially resigning as Newton County Coroner effective May 28, 2021 at 8 in the morning.

When I ran for Coroner the first time and didn’t win, I knew I had to try again. I thought that Newton County was ready for change. It was my mistake to think that the county is ready to accept a woman of color to become their coroner. When I won on November 3, 2020, history was made. To become the first woman of color in a position dominated by white men in this county, was such an honor and I will be forever grateful to all the people who supported and voted for me. I didn’t resign because you didn’t have faith in me, I am giving up this position because the people who are supposed to help me carry out my tasks well, are making things very difficult. As a coroner, I cannot do everything alone. I need the entire response team to work together and give each other support. But this didn’t happen.

What pushed me into this decision? During my campaign, I already felt hostility. I got some of my banners vandalized, I had my tires slashed. But my intentions were good so I still fought hard. When I won, my entire team had so much difficulty transitioning to the position. The old administration won’t cooperate. There were social media threads from other emergency response organizations bragging that they will not help out when the coroner needs them. There were too many scandals and issues about how I do my duties which mainly comes from the fact that I am black. There were even issues with my office space, my deputies, and other stuff which weren’t a problem with the previous coroner. I even received live bullets in my office. In the earlier cases, some of the other authorities expected us to do everything on our own, even remove the deceased from being entrapped inside

 of a vehicle. These people wouldn’t accept change for the better. They got so used to the old system. They are intimidated by my capacity, knowledge, and experience. This is a classic example of racism and discrimination.

The people of Newton County had spoken and wanted change, thus electing me as the new Coroner. These people entrusted me with this position knowing that I can do what’s best for our county. We need to speak out and change this system. Because this will only become a cycle if we don’t fight this. This will continue to happen to the next person who tries to make a change for the better. I didn’t fail the people who trusted me, the system failed me.

Dorothea Bailey-Butts Coroner, Newton County