The Georgia Court of Appeals ruled Friday that Fulton County commissioners did not violate the state’s election-board appointment rules when they declined to seat two Republican nominees, reversing a lower-court contempt finding tied to that refusal.
In a unanimous opinion by a three-judge panel, Presiding Judge Anne Barnes wrote that Fulton County’s elected leadership must appoint two members from nominees provided by the county Republican Party, but commissioners also retain lawful discretion when they decline to seat specific party choices. The appellate ruling means the county did not have to pay a contempt fine of $10,000 a day that a judge had stayed pending the appeal.
The dispute began after Fulton County commissioners—who have a Democratic majority—voted last year to reject the Republican nominees Julie Adams and Jason Frazier, saying their actions made them unsuitable for the county election board. The county Republican Party sued, and a judge ordered commissioners to vote to approve Adams and Frazier, finding them in contempt after they refused.
Barnes wrote that while commissioners are required to choose from the list of Republican nominees, they were within their own lawful and discretionary authority when they declined to seat the party’s selections. The appeals court said the appropriate path forward is for the Republican Party to submit new nominees rather than forcing the county to approve the original picks.
Adams has served on the five-person Fulton County election board since February 2024. The appeals court reporting said she abstained from certifying primary election results last year and unsuccessfully sued the election board seeking a ruling on whether county officials can refuse to certify elections. Frazier, the reporting added, had formally challenged the eligibility of thousands of Fulton County voters.
The appeals court ruling came as Adams’s term expired in June, with her replacement still to be appointed, while the other Republican seat on the board remained vacant. The opinion also left open a further legal step for the Republican Party: the reporting said Republicans could appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court, though state justices do not have to take the case. A lawyer for the county Republican Party did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Jason Frazier reacted to the ruling with criticism aimed at Democratic commissioners’ power to control election board membership. “If this holds, the Dems on the Fulton County Board of Commissioners can essentially pick their Dem Board of Elections Members, The Chair AND THE REPUBLICANS!!!!!!!!” he wrote on social media.
Fulton County Commissioner Dana Barrett, a Democrat who cited her vote against seating Adams and Frazier in her run for Georgia secretary of state this year, praised the appellate decision. In a statement, Barrett said the contempt charges, fines, and jail-time threats tied to the earlier ruling were overturned, calling it “a huge win for Georgia voters” and “a win for free, fair, and secure elections.”
The appeals court decision may have implications beyond Fulton County because most election boards across Georgia are appointed using the same basic structure described for the Fulton board: a chair selected by commissioners, plus nominees provided by the county Republican and Democratic parties and then appointed by the commissioners. The court’s ruling could therefore broaden the discretion county commissioners have to reject party nominees they do not want to seat, potentially changing how political parties’ influence is reflected on election administration bodies in counties with similar appointment rules.