A Gwinnett County Superior Court judge Monday will receive the report of a special grand jury that spent nine months investigating questionable land purchases by the county commission.
Commission Chairman Charles Bannister testified before the grand jury Friday, the investigative panel’s final day, and then abruptly announced his resignation. Also testifying Friday was longtime County Commissioner Kevin Kenerly.
The grand jury convened in January after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that several commissioners had championed land purchases from developers or others who had ties to those commissioners. Appraisals for the land appeared to have been inflated such that taxpayers paid more than they should have for the properties.
Judge Michael Clark, who is returning from vacation Monday, had said that, when he received the report, he would seal it for about 10 days to give anyone named in it an opportunity to respond. But District Attorney Danny Porter said last week that, if the report contains any criminal indictments, those charges would be made public Monday.
By Staff reports
For the AJC
8:18 p.m. Sunday, October 10, 2010
