Rockdale County officials challenge Kathy Harvey’s bid as write-in candidate for Probate Judge

ROCKDALE COUNTY GA—The Rockdale County Board of Elections will hold a public hearing on Sept. 25 to determine if Kathy Harvey can run as a write-in candidate for Probate Judge in the Nov. 5, 2024 election.

Harvey has unsuccessfully run for probate judge twice—in 2016 as a write-in candidate, and in 2020, after paying her qualifying fee to enter the race. She also ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Conyers in 2009.

On Common Ground News was unable to reach Harvey for comment about her latest bid for office. A message was left with a woman who answered the phone and said she would notify Harvey.

Probate Judge Gary Washington, who became the Democratic nominee in May 2024 after running unopposed, filed a formal challenge to Harvey’s bid on Sept. 16 with the Rockdale Board of Elections. Judge Washington stated in documents obtained by On Common Ground News under Georgia’s open records law, that he is challenging Harvey’s bid on the grounds that she is not a licensed attorney in the state of Georgia and therefore fails to meet the statutory qualifications for the office of Probate Judge.

Judge Washington stated that the General Assembly established that probate judges serving in counties with a population of more than 90,000 persons are authorized by law to conduct jury trials and must have a Georgia law license to do so.

Rockdale received its designation requiring probate judges in counties that reach the population threshhold to have a Georgia law license on July 1, 2022 in accordance with  O.C.G.A § 1-3-1(d)(2)(D).  Judge Washington stated there currently are 28 designated counties in Georgia that require probate judges to have a Georgia law license: Athens-Clarke, Bartow, Carroll, Chatham, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Columbia, Coweta, DeKalb, Dougherty, Douglas, Fayette, Floyd, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Hall, Henry, Houston, Lowndes, Macon-Bibb, Muscogee, Newton, Paulding, Richmond, Rockdale, and Whitfield.

The Rockdale Board of Elections has set the public hearing concerning Harvey on Sept. 25, 5 p.m., at 115 West Ave. S.W. Conyers. The meeting will be held in person.

The board will determine if Harvey met the Sept. 3 deadline in publishing her Notice of Intent to run as a write-n candidate in the Rockdale Citizen newspaper, the county’s legal organ.

The board also will determine whether Harvey meets the qualification of having a State of Georgia Law license for 7 years prior to the election as required by Georgia Law for counties with a population over 90,000.

 Photo above: Kathy Harvey holds one of her campaign signs. Photo via Meta.