Sen. John Douglas (R-Social Circle) has pre-filed legislation that would make it illegal for a registered sex offender to run for office on local school boards.
Douglas said he filed the legislation in response to the spring 2008 attempt by Newton County resident Horace Don Gresham to run for the District 2 seat on the Board of Education. In 1988 in DeKalb County, Gresham was charged with felony sodomy involving a child under the age of 14, a charge that carried a 12-year sentence that had yet to expire before he decided to run for office.
In the face of a public outcry, Gresham withdrew his candidacy before a special hearing could take place to judge his qualifications to run for office.
"It was just intolerable to consider the fact that we could have had a sex offender on our school board having access to our schools," Douglas said. "I don’t think that the voters would ever support a sex offender for school board or any other position but we just want to make sure."
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