A communication came today to Sheriff Johnny Moats that had him upset after he took a stand and wouldn’t allow a transfer bond to be used to allow for accused murder suspect Jimmy Brian Blackmon out of the Polk County Jail on a $100,000 bond.

Moats confirmed what other officials reported: Superior Court Judge Meng Lim, the Chief Judge of the Tallapoosa Circuit, recused himself in a civil hearing being sought by attorneys for Blackmon after Moats refused the transfer bond from Carroll County in recent weeks.

He said he’s been waiting for a filing in the matter and a chance to plead his reasons for not letting Blackmon out of jail since he made the decision, and the latest news by e-mail that Lim would not hear the matter and instead passed it off to Superior Court Judge Mark Murphy to consider.

“I am a little upset about Judge Lim recusing himself from the mandamus hearing about Jimmy Blackmon’s bond,” Moats said in a written statement this evening. “I really wanted to be heard by Judge Lim on this matter since it was his bond order. I believe I speak for the majority of the citizens of Polk county when I refused the bond order on Mr. Blackmon. I just want the court to hear my reasons for not approving the bond.”

Judge Lim had previously set a bond for Blackmon at $500,000, and then in a second hearing lowered the amount to $100,000.

Moats had previously reported that Blackmon’s family were able to get the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office to allow for a transfer bond to be used – with the collateral being the same property Blackmon was found hiding out in October and was arrested. He denied the transfer bond.

Since then, it’s been a matter of waiting for Blackmon’s lawyers to respond.

A mandamus is a legal document, or a writ, that requires someone like Moats to be specifically required to follow the orders of a Judge who has jurisdiction over his authority, even though he is a constitutional officer in the county as defined by state law. In this case, the request for the order comes from attorneys representing Blackmon, not a judge being able to set a hearing date without a filing.

Blackmon, who has been in jail since late October, is accused of shooting his wife Ginger Blackmon at their former home on Rice Road near Rockmart High School and then going on the run from law enforcement for eight days before he was found and captured. Blackmon is charged with murder, possession of a firearm or knife during commission of or attempt to commit certain felonies, cruelty to children in the third degree and influencing a witness.

He was arrested on October 26, 2020. A manhunt took police through several communities, and at one point Blackmon was thought to have returned home which prompted an aerial search of Rice Road in Rockmart, and hours of lockdown for students at Rockmart Middle and Rockmart High Schools.

Check back on Wednesday for more information on this story as it continues to develop.