After seven years, Rockdale County now has a full board for its ethics commission.

The Rockdale County Coalition of Homeowners Association (RCHA) officially selected Franklin Beauford to the Rockdale County Board of Ethics Commission during a special-called meeting Tuesday evening.

Beauford, a retired Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) executive of 42 years, was selected by the RCHA after each attending member cast a vote. Beauford, who nominated himself, says that he's excited for this new responsibility.

"I believe in honesty and transparency," said Beauford, who's never held a public office. "I just want to make sure that the people we elect to office are doing just that."

The 73-year-old will join Russel Moore, who represents the Rockdale County Bar Association, and Darlene Hotchkiss, who represents the Conyers-Rockdale Chamber of Commerce, on the ethics board.

"I'm not there for a witch hunt. I didn't want this job for a witch hunt," said Beauford. "Now that I have it, I'm going to be the best that I can be."

The three-member board of ethics hears ethics complaints filed against county commissioners. It was initially created by law in 2008, but was never enacted.

The idea of this board has been a hot topic of discussion since August, when former county commissioner JaNice Van Ness proposed to change how the members of the board were selected. After months of debate, Van Ness was finally able to get her proposal approved, which regulated appointments to come from the Rockdale Bar Association, the Conyers-Rockdale Chamber of Commerce and for nominees from the Rockdale Coalition of Homeowners and Civic Associations to be selected by county employees.

However, a month ago, Post 2 County Commissioner Doreen Williams, who replaced Van Ness on the Rockdale County Board of Commission this year, changed the appointment to process to have the third member of the ethics board come directly from the RCHA without involvement from county employees.