MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — The Georgia Bureau of Investigations says it's investigating possible crimes committed by staff at the Baldwin County Superior Court Clerk's office.
Both the GBI and the District Attorney's office are declining to comment.
The story starts with Ocmulgee Judicial District Attorney, T. Wright Barksdale.
In a statement he sent to us, he said he contacted Mary Chandler with the Milledgeville GBI office to say that someone at the Baldwin County Superior County Clerk's office either didn't file, misfiled, or altered court documents.
Now, the GBI is now investigating the clerk's office for possible crimes.
Barksdale said the allegations came from a credible source. He says he believes this may have affected defendant's rights, their criminal histories, and parole eligibility.
Barksdale says at least one person misled a superior court judge by “lies, deception, and an attempt to cover up inappropriate behavior."
Barksdale says his office will not be involved in the investigation as some staff members may be witnesses.
13WMAZ went up to the clerk's office for a comment, but they declined. However, folks outside the courthouse had mixed reactions.
"I just dropped off my passport and the ladies were perfectly fine,” Rhonda Gilkey said. “Seemed like they knew what they were doing. Yeah, they were very helpful.”
Melvin Richards, who said he's a convicted felon, says this news rubs him the wrong way.
"I know all about Milledgeville, yeah they did it. It's not that good down here. If they under investigation for something, trust me they did it. Or they wouldn't be under investigation,” Richards said.
Georgia College student, Riley Meeks, says she wasn't too surprised.
"There's probably a lot of other places that are doing the same thing that we just don't know about too,” she said.
Meeks says it still doesn't make it right.
"It's messed up in general because it's illegal and it's just dirty of everybody,” she said. “It's kind of hard to trust anybody in general these days.”
The GBI has not released any further details on the case. They said they will send their findings to the Georgia Attorney General's office.