The Habersham County Commission returned from closed session Monday night and announced the resignation of County Attorney Donnie Hunt. Hunt’s resignation will be effective on June 30, 2025.
Upon returning from closed session for personnel, litigation, and property disposal, Commission Chairman Jimmy Tench read into the minutes Hunt’s resignation letter. The commission unanimously accepted his resignation.
“It has been a pleasure to serve the citizens of Habersham County by representing the Habersham County government. Ralph Taylor and I with support from the staff and attorneys of Hunt & Taylor Law Group have been involved in every facet of the county government since our appointment in April of 2012,” the letter begins.
Hunt explained that he will be turning 70 years of age this June. “With that in mind and in an effort to allow sufficient time to issue, evaluate, and interview responses and respondents to a Request For Proposal (RFP), I submit in advance my resignation personally and on behalf of the firm effective June 30, 2025,” the letter states.
The law firm will continue to represent the county on an hourly basis at the firm’s current rate and without a monthly retainer through June 30. The firm will also try to complete all pending litigation and financing projects between now and its last day.
Hunt concludes the letter for the firm with, “Thank you for teaming up with us for more than a decade.”
Appreciation of service
Commissioner Ty Akins expressed his gratitude towards Hunt. “Donnie, it’s been a pleasure working with you and I look forward to another few months of you helping us out and you enjoying your time with your grandkids and family.”
Commissioner Bruce Harkness echoed Akin’s sentiments and added, “I believe you’ve done a good job and worked hard for the people and I do appreciate it,” he said. “Thank you so much and it’s been an honor working with you.”
Commissioner Dustin Mealor recounted his time as a Baldwin council member and interactions with Hunt. “As a Baldwin council member, you have frustrated me at times,” he said. “But as a county commissioner, I appreciate everything you have done.”
Duties
Over the years, the Hunt and Taylor law firm has evolved not only to represent the county commission but to represent various boards and commissions throughout the county. Hunt said that a few years ago, the firm began attending Planning Commission meetings due to meetings becoming more and more contentious. The firm has also attended a few of the Board of Tax Assessors meetings for personnel matters.
As for the request for proposal advertisement, Hunt explained that Interim County Manager Tim Sims has drafted a document in RFP format that the county commission will take a couple of weeks to look at. He will also review the document with attention to the Scope of Duties portion to ensure the duties his firm performs are listed that the commissioners may not be aware of.
One of the duties the law firm performs for the county is open record responses. It began performing those duties approximately 3 years ago. Now that the firm is resigning, Hunt was asked who will perform those duties going forward. “They (the county) will probably take that back in house except for the sticky ones,” he said. He clarified that those of a legal nature may not be brought back into the county.
