By Barbara Augsdorfer, editor for the Effingham Herald

All three city councils in Effingham County voted at their December meetings to join an amicus brief on behalf of Milton, Georgia, which was recently ordered to pay a $32 million settlement in a negligence suit.

Milton is about 30 miles north of Atlanta.

The suit was filed by the family of Joshua Chang, who was killed in a single-car accident in November 2016. According to several reports, Chang’s car struck a concrete planter that was on the shoulder of a roadway between two driveways that provided an entrance and exit to an event facility.

The suit alleges the city was negligent and the planter created a nuisance.

A jury found the city liable and awarded the Chang family more than $30 million. The City of Milton has appealed the decision to the Court of Appeals.

As 2025 opens, the case is still in appeal, and if the decision is upheld in the Court of Appeals, the city of Milton has already indicated it will appeal to the state Supreme Court.

In the meantime, the city councils of Guyton, Rincon, and Springfield joined 55 other cities in Georgia in an amicus brief, basically stating they support Milton’s appeal because judgements that large place an undue financial burden on small and medium-sized municipalities.

While introducing the resolution to the Rincon City Council at its regular meeting Dec. 9, city attorney David “Bobo” Mullens, III, said that the planter in question had been in place for 30 years with “no prior incidences, no issues.

“A number of cities around the state (want) to join together preparing what's called the amicus brief for the Court of Appeals, saying and outlining all the legal reasons why that decision was legally incorrect,” Mullens explained. “What you would be doing is authorizing the city's name to be attached to that brief. You wouldn't be paying extra for legal work, but you would be joining other cities and saying, for a number of reasons, that decision was over broad.”

Mullens added that if the judgment was allowed to stand and set a precedent, such large judgments could potentially bankrupt cities, such as Rincon, that is similar in size to Milton.

The city councils of Springfield and Guyton also voted to join the amicus brief during their regular meetings on Dec. 10.

“What happened to Mr. Chang was certainly a tragedy, but we firmly believe the City of Milton should not be held liable,” said Milton Mayor Peyton Jamison on the city’s website. “As such, we will continue to pursue a reasonable outcome to protect the City and taxpayers from this unjust financial burden.”