Editor’s note: This story includes an image showing profanity written on county property.

SPRINGFIELD, Ga. — The Effingham County Sheriff's Office is investigating Ivy Gibbins, chair of the Effingham County Democratic Committee, after county surveillance video showed her writing a profane message about County Commissioner Roger Burdette on pavement at a county government facility.

The incident happened Aug. 29 after a public forum on OpenAI's proposed Project Camellia data center at the Effingham County Administrative Complex on Laurel Street.

“ECSO was contacted about this situation and is looking into it,” the Sheriff's Office said Monday in response to questions from the Herald.

The Herald also has asked the city of Springfield whether its police department is investigating the incident and is awaiting a response.

Gibbins acknowledged to the Herald that she wrote the message. She said it was written in chalk behind the county building and erased the same day.

The message read: “Burdette is a p**** b****.”

Gibbins said she intended for commissioners to see the message as they left the building.

Gibbins said she does not believe she committed a crime. She said she has spoken with several attorneys who told her the conduct was not criminal and was protected political speech.

Burdette said he contacted the Sheriff's Office after obtaining the surveillance video through an open records request.

What the video shows

Gibbins said she wrote the message behind the building, away from the area where people attending the forum would have seen it.

She acknowledged that the surveillance camera captured her writing the message.

Gibbins said she was not the only person who wrote on the pavement that day.

“That wasn't the only thing that was written,” she said. “There were other things written, also in chalk and by other people.”

She accused Burdette of releasing only portions of the surveillance footage that supported his version of events.

Burdette disputed that account. He said he did not know the message had been written until the following Tuesday, when a friend showed him a photograph.

Burdette then requested the surveillance footage through the county's public-records process. He said he did not have special access to the footage because he is a commissioner and had to go through the records process.

Burdette said his disagreements with Gibbins date to at least 2023 and have included disputes over county issues and their interactions at public meetings.

Investigation underway

Burdette said he contacted the Sheriff's Office after reviewing the footage but has not personally sought criminal charges.

“I did,” Burdette said when asked whether he contacted the sheriff. “I talked with the sheriff briefly about it.”

Burdette said he believes the conduct could constitute a felony based on his own research, but said any decision about criminal charges would be up to law enforcement and prosecutors.

Gibbins disagrees.

“No, because it's not a crime,” she said when asked whether she had been charged. “I've literally spoken with multiple lawyers and it's not a crime.”

Georgia law makes it a crime to destroy, damage or deface government property. A conviction for interference with government property carries a potential prison sentence of one to five years.

The Georgia Court of Appeals has ruled that defacement of government property does not have to be permanent. The court upheld a conviction even though the government surfaces at issue could be cleaned and restored to their previous appearance.

The law does not establish that every instance of writing on government property constitutes a violation. Whether Gibbins' conduct violated the statute is a matter for investigators and prosecutors.

No criminal charge against Gibbins had been announced Sept. 21.

Children were present

Gibbins also confirmed that two children were with her when the message was written but said they did not write it.

“It was me,” she said. “And those kids can't read.”

Burdette said the presence of children was one reason he decided to make the video public.

Gibbins said Burdette's release of the video has resulted in threats against her, including messages calling for her death and threats involving her children.

Those allegations have not been independently verified by the Herald.

The Herald also contacted Charlie Bailey, chairman of the Democratic Party of Georgia, for comment Sept. 21 and was awaiting a response.