Many may not have been made aware, but it has come to light through my investigation and open records that Matt Gunnels abandoned his post as District 3 Commissioner and the reason why has the odor of scandal. He gave up on the people he swore to serve, stating he would serve his full term.

Why did he abandon his duties and constituents of District 3?

The official response – the cover up – I was given is that he relocated to Columbus, Georgia and no longer was able to declare residency in Marion County. When I looked in the tax assessor’s database, I saw that in fact his property was no longer registered with a “Homestead” exemption, which means that he does not reside in this home. I did see that he had a forwarding address for tax bills to be sent to, which when I looked up, pointed to a very nice home in Courtney Gunnels’ name only.

This had me wondering, why did they have separate homes and why wasn’t he living with Courtney?

I looked in Georgia PeachCourt, where you can look up most court cases in most Georgia Counties. To my surprise, I found a case that indicated that Courtney Gunnels had filed for divorce, custody, and related relief on August 29, 2023. Courtney indicated in her complaint that Matt subjected her to “acts of mental cruel treatment,” that he was “addict[ed] to illegal narcotics,” “has become erratic in his behavior,” and a “danger” to Courtney and her children. Courtney adds that Matt “hallucinates,” while under the influence of those illegal narcotics, and that when he hallucinates, he endangers them all. Courtney further adds that she fears for her life and is requesting a restraining order.

On that same day, an order was signed by a Marion County Superior Court Judge that granted Courtney the immediate physical custody of her children, the restraining order, and it required Matt to vacate the home immediately.

So, my question, is why wasn’t he removed from his seat in 2023? Why did they wait until close to the end of his term? The sheriff knew about it, because he is the one who served Matt the documents. The judge knew about it because they ordered these things on the presence of probable cause.

When I performed an open records request for Matt’s oaths, surety, and any letter of resignation, I was provided a document that indicated that Connie Harris ONLY found out that Matt had abandoned his seat as of March 6, 2026. Knowing what I have learned about Connie, I doubt this is the truth, but let’s get into the nitty gritty of what should have happened even with Matt “abandoning” his Commissioner’s seat in 2026; not being removed in 2023.

Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 45-5-3) requires that if a public officer vacates his or her seat DURING the last 27 months of his or her term, the Governor is supposed to be notified and he is the one that appoints the officer to fill the remainder of the seat; but did they do that? No.

I performed another Open Records Request to the Secretary of State’s office asking for any notification that was sent by Marion County to the Governor noticing that Matt Gunnels had abandoned his seat and needed the Governor to appoint a replacement. The response was that there were no responsive documents.

So, why does it appear that a man who was alleged by his own wife to have been under the influence of illegal narcotics, was mentally cruel towards his wife and his children, was still allowed to sit for almost 2.5 years making decisions about our laws and money, when he himself should have been removed back in 2023, when the local authorities already knew that he was compromised and by law should have been removed?

Can we trust that he had our best interests in mind then? And can we challenge any decision that he made as a sitting commissioner if he was under the influence of ILLEGAL drugs? In the contract world, in order for a contract to be legal, the person signing or executing the contract has to be proven of sound mind, so, I would argue that every vote he cast, every piece of legislation that was made, and every personnel decision in executive session is illegal as well and can be reversed, LEGALLY.

What say you?

If you have a story, feedback, or questions, please contact me at Plumblyne Productions by email at plumblyneproductions@gmail.com or by phone at 229.329.2179.

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