The Fulton County Board of Commissioners has been ordered to pay $10,000 per day until its members vote to approve the appointment of a pair of controversial Republican nominees to the county’s board of Registration and Elections.
Superior Court Judge David Emerson issued his ruling Wednesday afternoon following a contentious morning hearing in which attorneys for the commissioners and the Fulton County Republican Party presented their arguments in front of a packed courtroom gallery.
“The court does find that the respondent Board of Commissioners has been stubbornly litigious and acted in bad faith in its conduct prior to this litigation by its failure to comply with clear local legislation which forced the plaintiff to file this action,” Emerson wrote in his ruling. “The court further finds that it has caused the plaintiff unnecessary difficulty in the conduct of this litigation by its failure to comply with the court’s order.”
The ruling means county commissioners were found in contempt of court for failing to comply with the judge’s previous order issued earlier this month. The $10,000 per day fine is set to begin at noon on Friday and continue indefinitely until the commissioners comply with Judge Emerson’s order.
Commissioner Marvin Arrington Jr. wasn’t present for the Aug. 20 vote, but told Capital B Atlanta earlier this week he too would have voted against appointing Adams and Frazier.
Arrington Jr. is recovering from hip replacement surgery and didn’t attend Wednesday’s morning court hearing. He expressed disbelief by Judge Emerson’s contempt ruling during a follow up interview.
“I don’t know what to say. I’m overwhelmed,” Arrington said. “Traditionally it is incumbent upon the [political parties] to nominate someone that they believe can get the four votes. I hate to see the county and the taxpayers being fined because the Republican Party has nominated someone who cannot meet approval.”
Arrington Jr. said he doesn’t intend to vote to approve Frazier or Adams, regardless of the hefty accruing fine. He expressed hope that the funds can be recovered by the county if and when the commissioners win their appeal.
“I believe that these two people are obstructionists,” Arrington said. “I do not believe they have good intentions. I’m not going to change the way I vote or my thoughts on these two nominees. I’m just not.”
On Monday, Arrington told Capital B Atlanta he’s willing to risk jail time.
“I pray that it doesn’t come to that, but yes [I’m willing to go to jail],” Arrington told Capital B Atlanta.
The 53-year-old attorney, who is running to be the next chair of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, weighed in on the controversy surrounding his fellow Democratic commissioners’ refusal to approve the appointment of Republicans Jason Frazier and Julie Adams to the county’s Board of Elections.
Voting rights advocates say Adams and Frazier could present obstacles to having free and fair elections in Georgia at the behest of the Republican National Committee and other supporters of President Donald Trump during a pivotal 2026 midterm election cycle. Georgia’s elections next year are expected to play a role in deciding the balance of power between Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill as well as the Gold Dome.
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U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Georgia, is up for reelection next year. He’s been identified as Democrats’ most vulnerable U.S. Senate incumbent in a state that Trump won narrowly by more than 2 percentage points in November.
Adams is an incumbent election board member who was appointed in January 2024 to serve the remainder of a two-year term that ended on June 30. She’s also the GOP member of the board who abstained from certifying last year’s primary election results over concerns she had about their accuracy.
Frazier is the chairman of the Georgia Republican Assembly’s Election Integrity Action group, an organization that has filed thousands of voter registration challenges in Fulton County since the 2020 election. He said he believes the Republican National Committee “should play a crucial role in preventing discrepancies and ensuring fair elections,” according to his campaign website.
“With my balanced skills and dedication, I am prepared to lead strategic actions that ensure our victories,” Frazier’s campaign website states.
Neither Adams nor Frazier has responded to repeated requests for comment from Capital B Atlanta.
In May, commissioners voted 5-2 to reject Frazier and Adams’ nominations due to concerns about their past actions questioning the integrity of election results and the legitimacy of people’s voter registrations.
More than 60 lawsuits filed in courts in battleground states, including Georgia, presented little to no evidence of widespread voter fraud taking place during the 2020 election. In Georgia, a risk-limiting audit led by GOP Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office ultimately determined the state’s “original machine count accurately portrayed the winner [Joe Biden]” of the 2020 election. A separate state election board investigation found allegations made against Fulton County election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss “were false and unsubstantiated.”
The Republican Party filed a lawsuit against the county after the vote to force commissioners to accept the nominations. Judge Emerson told commissioners in writing earlier this month that state law requires them to approve the GOP Board of Elections nominees.
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In his ruling, Emerson said he may hold the commissioners in contempt for refusing to approve Frazier and Adams, resulting in potential fines and jail time.
The commission voted 2-2 along party lines last Wednesday to ultimately deny Frazier and Adams their respective spots on the Board of Elections despite Emerson’s ruling.
Republicans have said the commissioners are violating a judge’s lawful order by refusing to appoint Frazier and Adams. Georgia Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoons expressed his desire for commissioners to be put behind bars for refusing to comply with the judge’s order.
“I hope the judge will consider not only a fine but jail time for the unlawful defiance of a lawful court order!” McKoons wrote Wednesday on X.
Commissioners Mo Ivory and Dana Barrett, both Democrats, voted against Adams and Frazier’s appointment, telling The Atlanta Journal-Constitution they’d be willing to go to jail over the matter.
Arrington was one of three Fulton County commissioners who didn’t show up to Wednesday’s meeting when Adams and Frazier failed to secure the required four-member majority vote to be appointed to the county’s Board of Elections.
Chairman Robb Pitts and District 6 Commissioner Khadijah Abdur-Rahman were also absent from the meeting. Arrington told Capital B Atlanta he was at the hospital recovering from a hip replacement surgery when the meeting took place on Wednesday.
Read More: How to Keep Your Voter Registration Active Amidst Georgia’s Massive Purge
On Monday, Arrington added that he has a right to vote his “conscience” as a commissioner, and that in his view, state law doesn’t require commissioners to appoint Board of Elections members that they believe are problematic.
“I don’t think there’s anything as commissioners that we have to do that’s mandatory,” he said. “If the Legislature wanted the parties to nominate and appoint themselves, then they should not have given that power to the commissioners.”
Arrington described Adams and Frazier as “obstructionists” doing the bidding of their MAGA supporters, adding that the effort to force county commissioners in one of Georgia’s bluest and Blackest counties is another alleged attempt by Trump supporters to undermine democracy.
“I think democracy is under attack at all levels,” he said. “We have to stand up and fight for democracy.”
This story was updated August 27, 2025.
