JONESBORO, Ga. — When allegations surfaced of Mayor Donya Sartor pointing a handgun at an officer last week, city leaders moved quickly to ban her from the building. A judge ultimately didn't back the decision.
“On Tuesday we were notified that a temporary restraining order was in place signed by a Superior Court judge in Clayton County which basically reversed any decision to ban me from the building,” Sartor said.
Sartor’s attorney said that the restraining order was not in line with the city’s charter.
“If a person can make an allegation against an elected official and based on that allegation alone they can get that official unseated or essentially neutralize their power that just doesn’t pass muster regardless of what jurisdiction it is,” Attorney Joslyn Jackson said.
Jackson said she presented the case to Superior Court Judge Geronda Carter.
This week Carter issued a temporary restraining order against a petition to ban her from her workplace. The document allows Sartor back into the building and orders all city-issued tools of her work to be returned.
“From everything that I have read the only person that has the authority to unseat the mayor is (Governor) Brian Kemp,” said Jackson.
This is all tied to a request for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to look into a claim that Sartor pointed a gun at a Jonesboro police lieutenant. The request came after the police chief wrote to the Clayton County District Attorney's Office to investigate the case. The office has asked the GBI to look into it as an independent third party. Correspondence about the allegations can be found in this story.
Sartor, who is the city's first Black mayor, said the claim against her is politically motivated.
The mayor admitted she took a gun out in her office in the lieutenant's presence - but denied pointing it at anyone.
“I transferred the gun from a locked drawer to my purse in front of him. It was never toward him. It was not a loaded gun,” Sartor said.
She also refuted allegations that the police lieutenant was left feeling vulnerable and threatened.
“He entered and exited my office seven more additional times. One of those times he actually helped me do some measurements in my wall," she said.
Sartor has maintained that the allegations, including the temporary restraining order, are an attempt to force her out of the office.
11Alive reached out again to the chief and council members for a response to Sartor's claims following the judge's decision, but no one has answered requests for comment.
As for Sartor, she returned to her office on Wednesday.
A hearing on this matter is slated to take place in Superior Court on Sept. 29 at 10 a.m.