Burrell Ellis Released From Prison Early

Former DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis has been released from prison.

Georgia Department of Corrections officials have confirmed Ellis' early release, reports the AJC.

Ellis had been serving an 18-month sentence after being convicted of attempting to extort a DeKalb vendor for a campaign contribution, and of lying to a grand jury that was investigating corruption charges in the county.

According to state prison officials, Ellis was serving the sentence at a state prison near Savannah.

Gov. Nathan Deal had appointed Lee May to serve as DeKalb CEO in July 2013. Last month, May announced he would not seek re-election as CEO this fall.

May commissioned an ethics reports that was headed by former Attorney General Mike Bowers and Richard Hyde. The investigation cited widespread corruption and improper spending from many elected and appointed county officials, including local commissioners Kathie Gannon and Jeff Rader, and accused May specifically of hindering the report.

After the report’s release, May faced intense criticism and numerous calls for his resignation, including some from within his own party such as state Sen. Emanuel Jones. Deal himself has said he supports the idea to eliminate the CEO position from DeKalb County government.

State Rep. Scott Holcomb, whose District 81 represents portions of Brookhaven, Chamblee, Doraville and unincorporated DeKalb, wants to eliminate the CEO position and perhaps replace with it with a professional county manager.

Holcomb introduced a proposal in 2016 to change DeKalb’s form of government from its current CEO model. Several local GOP lawmakers, including Sen. Fran Millar of Dunwoody, have been advocating that change for some time.