By Isabelle Manders
Marietta Daily Journal, Ga.
MABLETON, Ga. — Mableton Mayor Michael Owens says his metropolis has little selection however to ascertain its personal police division after the Cobb County authorities declined to supply a long-term policing settlement and included what he described as a “crippling provision” in a proposed intergovernmental settlement.
“It wasn’t our goal, wasn’t what we asked or, it was the situation we found ourselves in going into mediation,” Owens advised the Journal Thursday.
The metropolis has most popular to proceed contracting with Cobb for regulation enforcement providers. Since Mableton’s incorporation, Owens mentioned metropolis leaders had deliberate to depend on the Cobb County Police Department and entered mediation in search of a long-term settlement that might have prolonged by way of 2034.
“We were happy with the Cobb County police force, and (it was) something that we had planned on doing,” Owens mentioned.
Instead, Owens mentioned it rapidly turned clear throughout negotiations that county officers have been now not keen to supply a long-term association.
“It became very apparent, very quickly, that the county no longer had that as an option for us, and that we were going to have to determine the future of Mableton’s public safety in a way that would not directly include Cobb County Police Department being our law enforcement service.”
As a end result, Owens mentioned he now personally favors making a city-run police division.
“We have to be able to have safety and security in what public safety looks like, not just for tomorrow, but for next month, and for next year, and for the next decade,” he mentioned. “And the only way now that it seems that we’re going to be able to do that is have our own public safety office that includes a police force.”
Funding by way of new tax
The price of creating a police division could be funded by way of Mableton’s citywide Public Safety Special Service District, which was initially set as much as pay town’s police providers invoice to the county, Owens mentioned.
“There’s an amount of comfort that is there for what we’ve already estimated in our budget to be able to do this,” he mentioned.
In December 2025 , the Mableton City Council authorised the creation of a citywide public security particular service district, which permits town to levy a tax to pay for public security providers. The metropolis’s proposed fiscal yr 2027 finances estimates roughly $21 million in income from the district.
Though Owens had beforehand mentioned a millage charge had not but been decided, he advised the Journal Thursday that the $21 million estimate was primarily based on a citywide tax charge of 4 mills.
That determine may change, nonetheless, as town continues evaluating the price of establishing and working its personal police power amid the continued dispute with Cobb County .
“Obviously, that was pre-’Go get your own police force, Mableton,’” Owens mentioned.
Owens added that deliberate tax exemptions for disabled veterans and senior residents are nonetheless being developed.
Mediation dispute
The newest battle stems from a disagreement over court docket jurisdiction and income from misdemeanor circumstances occurring inside Mableton .
County officers argue these circumstances ought to proceed to be processed by way of Cobb County State Court, whereas Mableton leaders preserve they belong within the metropolis’s newly established municipal court docket.
Who first launched the difficulty stays disputed. County leaders have advised Mableton raised the priority, whereas Owens argues the disagreement originated from a provision county officers “quietly tucked” right into a proposed intergovernmental settlement.
The metropolis and county spent practically 10 hours in mediation on May 22 , in the end reaching an settlement beneath which Mableton would pay Cobb County roughly $15.65 million for one yr of police and transportation providers. Of that, $13 million would fund one yr of police providers, whereas $2.65 million would cowl the primary yr of routine transportation providers inside the metropolis. The settlement additionally known as for Mableton to pay the federal mileage charge of 72.5 cents per mile for transporting inmates charged with violating metropolis ordinances to jails outdoors Mableton or Marietta .
Mableton was additionally required to pay the county $9.5 million for police providers beneath the earlier association from June 1, 2025 to May 31, 2026 , together with a $3 million fee due on the finish of May and the remaining steadiness by Dec. 31 .
That police providers settlement, nonetheless, expired Sunday.
Owens believed there was a false impression as to what was “actually discussed and agreed to in mediation” versus the proposed intergovernmental settlement, or IGA, that was later drafted.
“In mediation, we agreed to a compromise proposal for mediation, and we agreed to that,” Owens mentioned. “The mediator signed it, I signed it and Chairwoman (Lisa) Cupid signed it. That agreement says nothing about court services.”
He famous the mediation settlement particularly acknowledged all phrases would should be integrated right into a mutually acceptable IGA earlier than changing into binding.
The Cobb Board of Commissioners authorised the settlement May 26 , and the Mableton City Council authorised it the next day, authorizing Owens to finalize negotiations and signal the doc. Owens contends the county authorised a model that was by no means mutually agreed upon.
“When we brought to the county the fact that we’ve got some issues with this IGA… they basically said too late, we’ve already approved it,” Owens mentioned.
‘Crippling provision’
At the middle of the disagreement is a clause stating that any court docket income generated from circumstances taken to court docket through the settlement interval could be paid to the county.
Owens described the availability as a “poison pill.”
“When I made the statement that would cripple our court services, it wasn’t because we have to have moving violations or Section 40 revenue from the courts,” Owens mentioned. “It was because the IGA, as the county approved, would take all court revenue, including our own local municipal court revenue for code violations and everything else.”
Owens mentioned town acquired the proposed IGA “mere hours” earlier than mediation started.
“We did not receive the IGA from the county until the day before, about four hours before in the business day, the day before mediation,” he mentioned. “That was a brand new document. We had never seen that document before.”
According to Owens, he didn’t uncover the disputed language till the week after mediation. He added that court docket providers have been by no means mentioned through the mediation course of, nor have been they listed within the mediation phrases of settlement.
“I asked for that one line to be removed, and we could have gotten past this without all the commotion and unrest, simply by changing one line in this IGA,” he mentioned.
The disagreement has left town with out a police providers settlement after the earlier contract expired Sunday.
While stormwater and transportation agreements stay in place, Cobb County at the moment lacks authorized authority to immediately present police providers to Mableton .
To keep away from interruptions in emergency response and 911 operations, Cobb County Sheriff Craig Owens is quickly deputizing Cobb law enforcement officials, permitting them to proceed responding to requires service.
County officers have emphasised the association is non permanent and shouldn’t be relied upon long run. Owens mentioned he has not acquired formal communication from the county concerning when the association will finish.
“Nothing that I have done, nothing that the chairwoman ( Lisa Cupid ) has done, nothing that either the city or the county has done has or will compromise the safety of the residents in the city of Mableton,” Owens mentioned. “…What this was was a disagreement over certain jurisdictional aspects of Mableton and Cobb County continuing to evolve.”
Owens mentioned negotiations with the county stay ongoing and expressed hope {that a} compromise can nonetheless be reached.
“We asked for the county to come back to the table and negotiate with us, and my understanding is, speaking with our attorney, that they have started negotiating at least attorney to attorney,” Owens mentioned.
Owens additionally introduced plans for a June 15 city corridor assembly, the place metropolis leaders will define Mableton’s long-term public security technique and supply residents with an replace on plans for its new Public Safety Division.
The assembly will likely be held from 6 to eight p.m. on the Riverside EpiCenter.
When Dallas Police officers stopped to restrain the person, he climbed into the driving force’s seat with one of many officers within the backseat
Veteran actor James Handy, 81, was discovered unconscious with a chest wound after a suspect claimed he killed the “man of sin”
“You’re going to get a more confident trooper, one who has better insight into their emotions and emotional regulation,” Sgt. Ashley Kierpaul mentioned
The probe was spurred by concern over the sheriffs’ mixed $110 million deficit in 2025
© 2026 Marietta Daily Journal, Ga.. Visit www.mdjonline.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
imanders@mdjonline.com
The spine of every dialog will likely be FirstNet and its continued influence on regulation enforcement effectivity and effectiveness at responding to cri