Milner, Georgia’s entire full-time police force and city manager have quit after the police chief accused Mayor Craig Timmons of planting a secret GPS tracker on his personal truck.
Tausha Grose, 48, the city manager, delivered the news herself at a city council meeting Monday night, announcing that she too had filed her resignation with the city clerk that same day. Grose, who had served as Milner’s city manager, told council members the departures had gutted the small department.
“It is with my extreme sorrow that our entire full-time police department has resigned, most of our part-time police. And also, I’ve also filed my resignation with the city clerk today,” Grose said at the meeting.
Police Chief Lamar Bunn, who had spent 15 to 16 years with the Lamar County Sheriff’s Office before taking the top job in his hometown, leveled explosive allegations against city hall. Bunn said the tracker was purchased with personal funds and installed on his vehicle without the knowledge of the city council or his direct supervisor.
“City Hall every day, it’s got a tracker on my truck; it was bought with personal funds and placed on my vehicle without the city council or my supervisor, city administrator, knowing it,” Bunn said at the meeting. “Here’s the thing, still I’m looking for a glimmer of hope to stay in the city. I don’t know why. It’s because I’ve devoted my life to Lamar County. 15, 16 years with the sheriff’s office, and now I’m back here in this county. My dad was here in ’74 policing with his police department. I got roots here.”
Bunn also told the council he had been falsely accused of having an affair with Grose, adding another layer of personal turmoil to the professional rupture. The chief’s resignation letter, obtained by reporters, framed his departure as a matter of conscience. “I have determined that it is in my best interest to step down at this time due to fundamental differences regarding leadership, governance, and ethical alignment. Regrettably, recent actions and governance decisions within city leadership, specifically regarding legal compliance, ethical standards, and core values, have compromised my ability to perform my duties with integrity,” Bunn wrote.
Milner Police Captain Craig Walton went further in his own resignation letter, explicitly demanding an outside probe of the mayor’s conduct. “I sincerely hope that the residents of Milner and the members of the City Council will take these concerns seriously and pursue an independent investigation into the mayor’s conduct, including any potential violations of his oath of office or the rights of city employees,” Walton wrote.
Several other department employees cited disagreements with Timmons and the city council as their reason for leaving, though the source material did not name them individually. The mass exodus left the department with only a skeleton crew of part-time volunteer officers.
The town had already been roiled by disputes over police overtime and a proposal to bar officers from using city vehicles for outside part-time work, though those policy fights were not cited in the resignation letters as the immediate cause of the walkout. Mayor Timmons acknowledged the concerns during Monday’s meeting and expressed hope the situation could be resolved, the source material noted, though he did not address the tracker allegation directly in the remarks reported.
The department’s collapse marks a stunning reversal for Bunn, who returned to the community where his father had policed in 1974. The chief’s emphasis on his family ties to Lamar County underscored the personal weight of his decision to leave.
Milner, located about 50 miles south of Atlanta in Lamar County, is a city of roughly 700 residents. The loss of its entire full-time police force leaves the town dependent on county sheriff’s deputies and its remaining volunteer officers for law enforcement coverage.
The city council has not announced any scheduled vote on an independent investigation into Timmons’ conduct.