RINGGOLD, Ga. -- Catoosa County Probate Judge Gene Lowery says he has taken "under advisement" the warrant application filed against the county sheriff by a magistrate judge embroiled in controversy.
"There's a lot of research that has to be done," Judge Lowery said.
Certain stipulations must be met in order to process the request, and it would take some time to figure out exactly what went on last week to spark the controversy, he said.
On June 16, Magistrate Judge Anthony Peters and Chief Magistrate Judge Sonny Caldwell got into an argument at the Catoosa County Courthouse. More than a dozen law enforcement officers were called to resolve the "administrative incident" that ended with Judge Peters being taken away in handcuffs and held at the Catoosa County Jail until he was released without charges.
On Monday, Judge Peters filed applications for warrants against "various magistrate judges and sheriff's office personnel," including Sheriff Phil Summers, saying he was falsely arrested.
Sheriff Summers said the warrant application against him was the only one he knew of working its way through the system. He said his application would go through probate court because he is an elected official, but other warrant applications filed against law enforcement agents would have to go through Superior Court.
He said he and other officials in the county were waiting to hear from the Georgia Judiciary Qualifications Commission, the GBI and the courts to see what happened next.
"We've got our ear to the ground," he said.
Also on Wednesday, Ringgold City Manager Dan Wright said the town had chosen Judge Lowery to replace Judge Peters as Ringgold's city judge on an interim basis.
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