He also said he didn’t believe anyone was in imminent danger.

In an interview, Brown said the GBI’s investigation of the alleged threat and the Board of Commissioners request to hire a private investigator are separate, but related, incidents.

After a closed-door meeting Tuesday evening, the Barrow County Board of Commissioners voted to hire a private investigator to look into Brown’s formal allegations against at least one county official. The executive session was not on the agenda for the regular meeting, but was amended at Chairman Danny Yearwood’s request.

Commissioner Larry Joe Wilburn was the only commissioner to vote against the amendment to the agenda to go into executive session.

"I had already had someone in the public contact me about what the problem was," he said in an e-mail. "If it is already out in the public, why should we go behind closed doors to talk about it?"

In an interview Friday night he expressed frustration over how the issue’s being handled.

"I don’t know what they’re going to investigate," he said. "I don’t know where it’s going to accomplish a lot."

He said he still hadn’t seen any written statement about what exactly a private investigator is going to investigate.

At the personnel meeting Tuesday, Brown was not included, because she said she made the personnel allegations on not only county employees’ behalf, but her own as well.

During an interview, Brown would not disclose who the allegations are against, but said she has retained attorney Cheryl Legare of the Atlanta firm of Buckley and Klein to represent her. The law firm "focuses exclusively on representing employees," according to its website. The firm specializes in sexual harassment, employment discrimination and race and color discrimination, among other employment issues.

Legare also said she could not say who the allegations are against and didn’t know if the allegations will lead to legal action.

"I’m not at liberty to share much right now," she said. "She just retained us last week, so we’re still in really early stages."

After almost two hours behind closed doors Tuesday night, Commissioner Steve Worley made a motion to hire a private investigator to fully investigate "serious allegations regarding personnel in the county." At the meeting, Worley also said the board would have no comment during the investigation.

Commissioner Isaiah Berry seconded the motion and the board approved it unanimously. The motion instructs County Attorney Angie Davis to coordinate with Operations Manager Bob Hohe to hire a private investigator.

In an interview Thursday, Worley said, "I never want to do a motion like that, but I do what I have to do… It’s serious enough that the Board of Commissioners felt no comment would be wise."

Commissioner Berry told the Barrow County News, "Some things are better left unsaid," when asked to comment on the investigation and allegations.

He said he didn’t want to comment for fear of seeming biased. "It would be best if I didn’t comment," he said.

Other commissioners also refused to comment or could not be reached. Chairman Danny Yearwood did not respond to requests for a comment.

Aside from the board requesting Hohe to hire a private investigator, he said he was also directed Wednesday to act as the Human Resources Department’s direct supervisor. He will act as the liaison between the department and the Board of Commissioners and the chairman, he said.

The Human Resources director would normally report directly to the chairman.

Hohe said the directive that he received also instructed Brown not to discuss issues associated with the investigation with the chairman, commissioners and the county attorney, "due to the commencement of an independent investigation" and "the fact that [Brown has] retained a private attorney."

"I would not call any of them regarding the investigation," Brown said. "That wouldn’t be ethical."

Hohe said he has not hired an investigator yet and the board also did not specify a dollar amount to be spent on the investigation.

"I haven’t established what the per hour cost would be… We’d have to set parameters and put a limit on the time," he said. "We’ve got to control costs like with anything else."

He said he expects the investigation to be expensive, considering he will have to hire someone from outside the county who doesn’t know any of the parties involved.

"That would be best and the fairest," he said.

And aside from the GBI and private investigator’s probes, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will investigate another employee’s charges of racial and gender discrimination, as well as possible violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, said attorney Danielle Berry of Tanya Andrews, Tate and Associates. The FLSA establishes minimum wage, overtime pay and recordkeeping affecting employees in the public and private sectors.

Tonie Russell, Barrow County GIS Supervisor, has hired Berry to assist her with her EEOC charges, which she filed in early August. Russell was serving as GIS Director prior to the county’s reduction in force earlier this year, which included abolishing positions and merging departments to help resolve budget woes. Russell’s position was changed to GIS Supervisor within the Tax Assessors Office in June. She was also bumped down two pay grades, according to county records.

More recently, GIS was moved under Community and County Development, after Russell filed her EEOC complaint and filed a formal complaint with Barrow County the same day.

In her complaint addressed to Brown and dated Aug. 4, Russell alleges "employment inequities" within the county. She contends that more employees within minority groups have been terminated, demoted or laid off, including those who were formerly department heads.

"As a black female, I believe that I am not on the same pay grade as a similarly situated Caucasian and/or male employee," she wrote.

Russell’s formal complaint with the county states that Wilburn had visited her at her office during the summer, when he became aware that she "was unhappy about being placed in the Tax Assessors Office." The letter also states that Wilburn visited Russell periodically to check in and see how she was doing.

More on Russell's complaint in the Sunday print edition of the Barrow County News.

Russell’s attorney said she’s preparing to file an amended act of discrimination, which will include recent activities, with the EEOC. Danielle Berry declined to comment on the specific charges or who the allegations are against.

"The EEOC will investigate the charges and make its findings as to whether there was discriminatory conduct," the attorney said. "They might propose conciliatory action, or they might propose settlement. The attorneys can request a right to sue, or the EEOC can intervene and bring lawsuit as the plaintiff against the county. There are several different outcomes that could happen."