Towns County Sheriff Kenneth Henderson has been suspended from office for the second time, this time over a new set of misconduct allegations that have nothing to do with the criminal case already hanging over him.
What’s happening: Governor Brian Kemp signed an order Sunday removing Henderson from duty for 60 days, starting immediately. Kemp said he first heard about the new allegations Friday. By Saturday, he had appointed a three-member panel to look into them. That panel came back the same day recommending Henderson be suspended. What the new allegations actually involve has not been made public.
What’s new: This suspension is based on entirely separate claims from the investigation and criminal indictment Henderson already faces. It is the second time Kemp has suspended him.
The prior case: Henderson was first suspended in October 2025 after a December 2024 incident involving a Hiawassee Police officer. A grand jury indicted him on seven criminal counts, including hitting a police officer and unlawfully detaining someone. That indictment was thrown out because of a problem with one of the grand jurors, but a second grand jury came back with the same charges in May 2026. Henderson has pleaded not guilty to all of them.
What’s still unknown: The governor’s office has not said what the new allegations against Henderson involve.
The path forward: Henderson is suspended for 60 days. The criminal case from the 2024 incident remains active and is separate from this suspension.
At this point, the only difference between the guards and the inmates is who gets to clock out at the end of the day.
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B.T. Clark is an award-winning journalist and the Publisher of The Georgia Sun. He has 25 years of experience in journalism and served as Managing Editor of Neighbor Newspapers in metro Atlanta for 15 years and Digital Director at Times-Journal Inc. for 8 years. His work has appeared in several newspapers throughout the state including Neighbor Newspapers, The Cherokee Tribune and The Marietta Daily Journal. He is a Georgia native and a fifth-generation Georgian.
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