A grand jury has returned a true bill of indictment for the Mayor of Nashville, Georgia, Taylor Scarbrough.
Scarbrough was arrested by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation on August 28, 2020 on charges of Theft by Conversion and Theft of Services.
The Berrien County grand jury in Georgia’s Alapaha Judicial Circuit returned the indictment on theft by conversion and theft by deception earlier this week.
At the time of his arrest, the GBI said the Douglas Regional Office received a request from the Berrien County Sheriff’s Office on August 20 to conduct an investigation regarding the allegation of property damage by a public official. Berrien County is located in the southern central portion of the state with a population of just over 19,000. Nashville is between Adel, Douglas, and Tifton.
During the course of the investigation, it was revealed that on August 17, 2020, the Berrien County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to the residence of Scarbrough. At that time, an individual, James Hobbs, alleged that Mayor Scarbrough had taken and used Hobbs’ excavator without permission and had caused significant damage to the machinery. As a result, the GBI brought forth charges against Scarborough, though limited information is available at this time and it is not clear whether or not the incident occurred with the mayor acting in his official capacity.
Upon notification of the charges, Mayor Scarbrough turned himself in to the Berrien County Jail without incident.
Under Georgia law, Theft by Conversion is defined in OCGA 16-8-4 and occurs when a person, “having lawfully obtained funds or other property of another including, but not limited to, leased or rented personal property, under an agreement or other known legal obligation to make a specified application of such funds or a specified disposition of such property, he knowingly converts the funds or property to his own use in violation of the agreement or legal obligation,” OR “when, an officer or employee of a government or of a financial institution fails to pay on an account, upon lawful demand, from the funds or property of another held by him, he is presumed to have intended to convert the funds or property to his own use.”
According to the city website, Scarborough is currently serving a four year term which runs through December 2023.
