Bibb/Monroe border dispute headed back to Georgia Supreme Court

The long-roiling border dispute between Bibb and Monroe counties heads back to the Georgia Supreme Court next week.

During arguments Monday, Georgia’s secretary of state is appealing a Fulton County court’s decision in the case.

Brian Kemp contends that the court exceeded its authority by restricting the evidence he could consider before determining where the long-lost border lies.

This round of the fight has drug on about nine years. The area in dispute includes part of Bass Pro Shops, as well as homes near it.

The state’s high court already heard portions of the case last year, when it told a Fulton County judge that she had exceeded her authority to give Kemp orders.

The justices ruled that Fulton County Superior Court Judge Kelly Lee Ellerbe could order Kemp to fulfill his duty by establishing a border, but that she could not order him to establish a specific location for the border.

Among the issues is whether Kemp can — or should — take any additional evidence in the case.

The only proposed line in the current case was drawn by Terry Scarborough, who at one time refused to testify in proceedings because Bibb County had not paid him. Last year Kemp proposed letting Scarborough submit additional evidence in the case, as well as taking any additional evidence from the two counties.

Scarborough’s line set the border south of where it is now. Another judge praised the survey and recommended keeping Scarborough’s line. Kemp rejected Scarborough’s line but did not establish one of his own, leaving the location ambiguous.

Kemp also rejected additional evidence from Scarborough before officially closing the case to new evidence.

Kemp’s attorneys, with the state Attorney General’s Office, contend that he has legal discretion to take new evidence in the case.

Additional evidence is necessary because the record developed so far assumed the only issue was whether Scarborough’s line was correct, they say, and it was not developed for the purpose of locating the true boundary line.

They contend that Ellerbe’s order prevents Kemp from using his discretion to hear other new evidence, even though it mandates him to consider other evidence offered by Scarborough.

Attorneys for Monroe County argue that the Supreme Court should reject Kemp’s appeal because Kemp stopped taking evidence years ago after six years of wrangling.

“The Secretary of State had the opportunity to reopen the record four years ago and, in the exercise of his discretion, he affirmatively chose not to do so. Under these circumstances, it was well within the trial court’s discretion to conclude that the secretary should be held to the record he exercised his discretion to develop,” a brief in the case said.

This story was originally published July 9, 2015 at 10:32 AM with the headline "Bibb/Monroe border dispute headed back to Georgia Supreme Court."