Coroner of Crawford County
P.O. Box 1009
Roberta, GA 31078
Office 478-836-3116
Cell478-954-9804
DAVID ALLEN O'NEAL
CORONER
March 16,2015
Crawford County Commissioners
P.O. Box 1009
Roberta, GA 31078
As of April1, 2015, I will no longer use my personal vehicle to go on Coroner Calls for
Crawford County. I WILL STILL FAITHLY EXECUTE MY LAWFUL DUTIES AS
CORONER. However, as of April 1, 2015, when I receive a call, I will notify the County that I
need a ride to the call.
Further, all faxes and access to internet will stop after 5 p.m. each day Monday through Friday
since those services are not provided at my home to utilize after hours. AGAIN, I WILL STILL
FAITHLY EXECUTE MY LAWFUL DUTIES AS CORONER. However, since the Secretary
at the Sheriff's Office, who also works for the Office of the Coroner, is only available Monday
through Friday, 8:00a.m.- 5:00p.m. then all requests or needs for after-hours information must
be directed through that office during those hours.
I am sorry it has come to this. However, reasonable attempts to resolve this issue since
December 2012 have yielded no results. Please take this seriously as I do not want a grieving
family to have to suffer.
I WILL STILL FAITHFULLY DO MY SWORN DUTY, AND EXECUTE MY LAWFUL
DUTIES AS CORONER OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.
David A. O'Neal
Coroner .
•
JAMES BATES
I
JAMES • BATES • BRANNAN • GROOVER LLP
D UKE R. GROOVER
D IRECT L INE:
(478) 749-9931
EMAIL:
[email protected]
-PLEASE REPLY TO T HE MACON OFFICE-
March 19, 2015
Sent via U.S.P.S. and E-Mail ([email protected])
Ms. B. Michelle Smith
P.O. Box 8633
Warner Robins, Georgia 31095
David Allen 0 'Neal vs Crawford County, Georgia
Superior Court of Crawford County, Civil Action No. 14-CV- 173
Re:
Dear Michelle:
This correspondence is in response to the letter from your client David Allen O'Neal
dated March 16, 2015, addressed to the Crawford County Commissioners, my client, and
subsequently forwarded to me by you. I am unsure whether you or Mr. O'Neal drafted the letter
and whether you intended to have your client contact my client directly.
Mr. O'Neal's letter is, put simply, a threat by Mr. O'Neal against Crawford County and,
by extension, against the citizens of Crawford County. Mr. O'Neal threatens that, if he is not
given the items he has demanded but to which he is not legally entitled, he will refuse to take
charge of bodies as he is required to do under O.C.G.A. § 45-16-25(a). Please remind your client
that he is legally required to execute his duties as Coroner of Crawford County. If he refuses to
perform his duties, the County will have no choice but to pursue legal action against Mr. O'Neal
and request his removal from office.
In his letter, Mr. O'Neal threatens that, if the County does not provide him a vehicle or an
individual to chauffeur him to death scenes, neither of which the County is legally required to do,
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Ms. B. Michelle Smith, Esq.
March 19, 2015
Page 2
Mr. O'Neal will refuse to perform his duties as Coroner. Mr. O'Neal is not entitled to a Countyprovided vehicle, nor is he entitled to a County-provided chauffeur. Mr. O'Neal might as well
have demanded a significant pay increase, to which he is not entitled by law, and stated that,
without that pay increase, he would refuse to travel to death scenes. The effect is the same - to
blackmail Crawford County and its citizens into acceding to his unlawful demands.
As Mr. O'Neal testified in his deposition, he has been fully able to perform the duties of
Coroner for thirty or more years without being provided a vehicle or a chauffeur to and from
death scenes. Instead, the County has provided Mr. O'Neal with a significant raise above his
statutorily-mandated salary to compensate him for any expense that may arise due to the use of
his vehicle. Mr. O'Neal's testimony in his deposition showed that he is clearly aware that his
duties as Coroner include going to death scenes to determine the cause and manner of death. Mr.
O'Neal's knowing refusal to carry out his duties as Coroner will carry with it significant
consequences, both for Mr. O'Neal and for the citizens of Crawford County who deserve a fullyfunctioning Coroner's Office.
As set out more fully in the motion for summary judgment brief that was filed on March
6, 2015, the County is providing all of the items, expenses, and materials necessary for Mr.
O'Neal to perform his job duties. In fact, Crawford County has greatly exceeded the statutory
requirements regarding what it must provide the Coroner, all in an effort to help Mr. O'Neal
better perform his duties. The County is providing him an extra Deputy Coroner to which he is
not statutorily entitled. The County has also offered Mr. O'Neal an office, including a fax and
internet line paid for by the County, but Mr. O'Neal has refused it because the office wasn't
"nice enough". The County is providing Mr. O'Neal with a cell phone. The County is going
Ms. B. Michelle Smith, Esq.
March 19,2015
Page 3
above and beyond that which is required by law to help provide good public services for its
citizens. Despite the County's provision of items above and beyond those that are required by
law, Mr. O'Neal petulantly and illegally threatens the Crawford County Board of Commissioners
and, by extension, the citizens of Crawford County with the withholding of Coroner services to
the entire County.
I am unsure whether Mr. O'Neal's letter only threatens refusal on his part to travel to
death scenes or whether he is threatening this refusal on behalf of his deputies as well. Please
provide clarification as to whether Mr. O'Neal was speaking only for himself or for his deputies
as well. Please remind Mr. O'Neal that Georgia law provides that Mr. O'Neal is legally
responsible for the refusal of his deputies to perform their lawful duties.
Mr. O'Neal states in his letter that if his demands are not met by April 1, 2015, then he
will refuse to conduct his duties as coroner of Crawford County. If this is his true intention, my
suggestion is that he resigns his office immediately. Otherwise, the County will pursue any and
all legal remedies, including, but not limited to, his removal from office and/or a writ of
mandamus requiring Mr. O'Neal to perform his legal duties, to ensure that the citizens of
Crawford County receive the Coroner services that they expect and deserve. Mr. O'Neal has
chosen time and again to run for Coroner of Crawford County and has sworn an oath to fulfill his
duties. Crawford County expects him to comply with this oath.
I await your response.
DRG/asp