A new battle is brewing for DeKalb County’s embattled sheriff.

Two sources confirm to WSB Radio that the Peace Officer Standards and Training Council, the group that certifies law enforcement personnel in Georgia, has voted to revoke the certification of DeKalb Sheriff Jeffrey Mann.

Mann was arrested on an accusation of exposing himself in an Atlanta park back in May, then running from a policeman. In July, Mann accepted a plea agreement to misdemeanor charges of prohibited conduct and obstruction, and was sentenced to a fine, community service, and a six-month banishment from city parks.

Even though state law says the vote takes 10 days to become official public record – to allow time for POST to inform the person – today’s committee and full council meetings were fully open to the public and media. Mann’s name was not mentioned in the meeting, only a case number.

WSB Radio confirmed via sources that Mann’s case was one of the two on the agenda for revocation, and was present for the subsequent vote by the council, which was unanimous.

The vote does not mean Mann is suddenly being ousted from office.

“Basically, what’s going on is the state of Georgia is trying to revoke his license to be a peace officer in the state,” says WSB legal analyst Phil Holloway. “If ultimately they succeed, it would result in his removal from office.”

But Holloway says Mann has the right to appeal, and he fully expects the sheriff to exercise that right.

Right now, Mann’s certification is fully intact. His appeal must be filed within 30 calendar days of his official notification by POST.

“He could be sheriff pending appeals for quite some time,” says Holloway. “To appeal, he must file a written response under oath, admitting or denying every allegation POST is making. They may not be the same exact allegations that the City of Atlanta made against him in the criminal case.”

Mann put himself on suspension for a week after the incident. He also served a 40-day suspension at the order of Gov. Deal.

Despite the meetings being open, with television cameras rolling, two members of POST launched tirades against two media agencies for reporting the news of the vote before Mann’s official notification by the council.

Those reporters tell WSB Radio that no one with POST asked any reporters to embargo the information to allow for time to notify the sheriff.

As he concluded the meeting, POST Chairman and Coweta County Sheriff Mike Yeager added, “I think we all take it seriously when we have one of our own that something happens to and it goes wrong; we’ve got to handle the business. I think the people of this state expect us to handle that business.”

Holloway says the appeals process could stretch out for months – even years – because it begins with a state administrative hearing, but could eventually head to DeKalb County Superior Court and, theoretically, to the state Supreme Court. He says that the case could also be resolved along the way.

“It is not uncommon at all for these matters to be resolved while an appeal is pending by some type of compromise,” says Holloway. “Sometimes that means that an officer’s certification is placed in a probationary status, or merely suspended as opposed to fully revoked.”

Mann was re-elected in November of 2016. Holloway says if the case somehow ended up in the regular judicial system and stretched on for years, the POST vote might not be the one that is the final decision.

“It could very well be that the voters make this a moot point before his appeals are exhausted,” he says.