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With the recent split of the Coweta Judicial Circuit, Troup County has a new public defender.

New public defender Ricardo (Rick) Sampra addressed the Troup County Board of Commissioners during their combined work session and meeting on Tuesday morning. The meetings were combined due to expected inclement winter weather.

Sampra has lived in Troup County since 1989 after moving here when he finished law school.

The Coweta Judicial Circuit split effective Jan. 1. The previous five-county circuit was split down to a three-county circuit and a two-county circuit.  Sampra was appointed to be the circuit public defender for the existing Coweta circuit, which encompasses Troup County, Meriwether County and Coweta County. The new West Georgia Circuit covers Heard County and Carroll County.

One of the first orders of business for Sampra was to discuss two contracts between the public defender’s office and Coweta County and Troup County that expire at the end of the year.

Sampra requested to renew the contract, keeping everything the same except adding $625 to supplement the salary for a dedicated appellate attorney.

“My predecessor, Maryellen Simmons, had gotten Carroll County, Coweta County and Troup County, to each supplement his salary by $2,500.  With losing Carroll County and with this being a six-month contract in the middle of the budget cycle, Carroll County had already paid half of that,” Sampra said.

Sampra said Coweta County has agreed to pay their portion of the remaining half, so he requested Troup County to do the same.

Troup CFO Sonya Conroy said the contract was already budgeted, saying the total difference was $1,113, not the $625 Sampra had calculated.

“We fully budgeted last year for the whole contract, not knowing really what was going to happen and how it’s going to work. That’s what we did for them and the district attorney’s office. So all but the short this small amount is already budgeted. The [budget] amendment that we calculated is a $1,113 difference, not the $625,” Conroy said.

The contact with the public defender’s office was unanimously approved by the Board of Commissioners.

In other business, the commissioners:

• Elected Jimmy McCamey as vice-chairman for 2025.
• Approved a request to apply for the Council of Accountability Court Judges (CACJ) Emergency Grant for funds needed by Accountability Courts during the final quarter of FY25 (April 1 to June 30). Felony Adult Drug Court is asking for $11,500, Mental Health Court is asking for $19,500 and DUI/Drug Court is asking for $13,450. The request has no costs to the county because there is no match requirement.
• Approved the acceptance of 2025 Georgia Internship Program (GCIP) grant funds for the Troup County Solicitor’s Office and Community Development department. The grant will provide funding to pay for interns at $15 per hour up to 200 hours for a maximum of $3,000.