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Griffies, Clerk v. Coweta County

After county commission had approved elected official's budget, it did not have unilateral authority to disapprove her purchase of bottled water for her employees.

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The questions raised in this case concern the authority of an elected official to provide “store-bought” water for her employees, as well as the authority of the trial court to provide attorney fees to fund litigation over this matter. Joan Griffies, the appellant, is the Clerk of the Superior Court of Coweta County. She appeals from an adverse ruling on a petition for mandamus that she filed to compel Coweta County, one of the appellees, to pay for bottled water for her employees to drink. We conclude that the Board of Commissioners of Coweta County did not have the unilateral authority to determine whether the purchase of bottled water by Griffies was necessary for the exercise of her duties, and that the trial court erred when it ruled that the county did not have to pay for the water from the miscellaneous line item of the clerk’s budget. Accordingly, we reverse.

Griffies took office as clerk of superior court in January 1997. Appellees are Coweta County, the members of the Board of Commissioners of Coweta County, and the finance director of Coweta County. The commissioners approved the annual budget for Coweta County for 1997 and 1998, including those portions of the budget relating to Griffies’ office. Griffies’ budget contained a miscellaneous line item of $400 for 1997 and $500 for 1998.

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