Habersham faces county attorney transition as Donnie Hunt plans June exit

Habersham County commissioners heard Feb. 17, 2025, that County Attorney Donald “Donnie” T. Hunt and his law firm planned to leave their county role on June 30. Hunt’s notice put the county’s legal representation into transition, with the firm expected to continue working hourly at its existing rate through the stated departure date while the county sought a successor.

The change reaches beyond a single staff or contract decision. The county attorney advises and represents county government, so commissioners needed to maintain legal counsel as they considered who would handle matters involving county decisions, contracts and representation after Hunt’s departure. The central unanswered question is which lawyer or firm ultimately assumed that work and on what terms.

The transition began with Hunt’s February notice, rather than with a documented appointment of a replacement. At that meeting, commissioners were told that Hunt and his firm would resign effective June 30 and would remain available on an hourly basis until then, giving the county a defined window to seek new counsel. That proposed interim arrangement tied continued representation directly to the planned search for a successor.

Hunt and his firm set the timing by notifying the commission of their intended June departure. The County Commission, in turn, was responsible for deciding how to preserve legal services and evaluate a replacement. The meeting record describes an anticipated effort to seek a successor, but it does not identify prospective firms, selection criteria, competing proposals or a lawyer chosen for the role.

Hunt’s stated resignation date and the proposed hourly continuation through June 30, 2025, were presented to commissioners at the Feb. 17 meeting. The excerpted minutes also refer to a motion concerning the resignation, but they do not record a vote result or other final action accepting it. Nor do they establish whether a request-for-proposals process was completed, whether the transition arrangement took effect, or whether a successor was appointed or contracted.

The next public indication of how Habersham completed the transition would be a County Commission agenda or minutes, a procurement record, a contract or an appointment naming the county’s legal counsel. Until such a record identifies the outcome, residents cannot determine from this account who took over the county attorney’s work after the planned June 2025 departure, whether Hunt’s firm continued beyond that date, or the financial terms of any replacement arrangement.