Tammy Crawford, who served in the Office of Professional Standards as the department's accreditation manager, was fired on August 28 after authorities said she deliberately deleted a large amount of information from the computer database. The Sheriff's Office said most of the information was retrieved, but some was lost.
The charges were filed as a result of a follow-up investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
"The Hall County Sheriff's Office will not tolerate criminal behavior on the part of its employees, regardless of rank or position," said Sheriff Gerald Couch in a statement released Wednesday morning.
"This is a very unfortunate incident where an experienced employee made a choice and must deal with the consequence of that. It is disappointing to see this type of criminal activity perpetrated by any employee. We must hold ourselves to a higher standard and demand accountability from our staff."
Crawford had worked for the Hall County Sheriff's Office since 1989, serving first as a clerk and later as a jailer and a patrol deputy. She began her work as the accreditation manager in 2006, according to the Sheriff's Office.
She is currently free on $10,000 bond.
The GBI investigation continues.
Tammy Crawford
http://accesswdun.com/article/2013/10/267318