A prosecutor in the ethics case involving Waycross City Commissioner Katrena Felder has been named and a hearing requested by Presiding Judge Brian Joseph “Joe” Huffman, Jr.
Huffman, Chief Judge of the Chatham County Recorder’s Court, last week selected Savannah attorney Caroline Bradley as prosecutor. He also set 11 a.m., Monday, June 16, for all parties involved in the action to meet in the Municipal Courtroom in the Waycross Police Department.
Felder, who represents District 3, is targeted with ethics violations in the complaint brought by citizen Clayton Nelson last September. The action charges Felder of improperly using her city-issued credit card and also attended a partisan event, which is prohibited for city commissioners.
Waycross Assistant City Attorney Huey Spearman received notice in an email from Huffman’s office of Bradley’s appointment Wednesday, June 4. Notice of the planned hearing was received a day earlier.
Felder
Spearman, who’s returned to his role of assistant following the hiring Tuesday, June 3 of Cheslyn M. Green as City Attorney, said the correspondence didn’t indicate the nature of the hearing. He speculated the session would be more of a “status conference” to determine how the case will proceed from this point.
Spearman, who served as Interim City Attorney after Rick Currie’s retirement April 30, 2024, said he expected the meeting would serve to review the case and establish some parameters going forward.
Huffman and Bradley became involved in the case after the recusals of Waycross Municipal Court Judge Douglas Gibson, Judge Pro Tempore Adrienne Gibson and Solicitor Joseph Johnson in the case. Each cited their appointments and existing contracts with the city to conduct the court’s business as the reason.
The case landed in Municipal Court in January on a 3-1 vote by the Waycross City Commission with Felder not voting. The vote of the commissioners affirmed the recommendation of the five-person City Board of Ethics in a 3-2 vote violations had occurred and the recommended penalty was prosecution.
After the commission’s decision, Douglas Gibson petitioned Huffman, District 1 Representative for the Council of Municipal Court Judges, to name someone to preside over the case in light of the recusals. Huffman informed the city April 18 he would assume that role and later appoint a prosecutor.
Bradley is a member of the law firm of Richard M. Darden, PC. She is a 2015 graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law.
She passed the state bar exam that same year and has been practicing since. In addition to her private practice, Bradley serves as Prosecuting Attorney for the Municipal Court of the City of Garden City in Chatham County.
Nelson is represented by Kimberly Copeland from Jesup. Adam Craft of Waycross is counsel for Felder.
Nelson filed his complaint September 2 with City Clerk Jackie Powell. The commission empaneled the citizen ethics board to hear the case, and after nearly a dozen meetings and hearings to consider the complaint, voted 3-2 for violations having occurred.
The group voted December 13, 2024 by the same split to recommend the penalty of prosecution to the commission. Shawn Taylor, chairman of the ethics board, delivered the recommendation to commissioners December 16.
The commission accepted the board’s recommendation and an addendum from Commissioner Alvin Nelson by a 3-1 vote January 7, 2025. Nelson added the request of Waycross Police Chief Tommy Cox notifying the GBI to examine the evidence, including all credit card transactions (by Felder) in the last three years to validate and determine if any criminal actions had occurred.
In addition to Nelson, Commissioners Shawn Roberts and Sheinita Bennett voted to accept the recommendation and addition while late Commissioner Diane Hopkins voted against. Felder, by rule, didn’t take part in the vote.
