April 8, 2026
Cobb County Ordered To Pay District Attorney Sonya Allen Her Denied Pension
"This is a retirement for a job I spent 30 years doing," Allen told WSB-TV.
A judge has ordered Cobb County (GA) to resume pension payments to District Attorney Sonya Allen.
The court win ends a legal dispute over whether her election to the Cobb County District Attorney post classified her as a rehired employee. In a 23-page ruling issued this week, the court determined that Allen is not an employee of Cobb County but a state official.
The decision follows a lawsuit Allen filed in February alleging the county improperly suspended her retirement benefits and supplemental pay from her time working with the Cobb County Sheriff’s office after she took office.
Cobb County officials had argued that the pension should be paused as Allen was rehired by the county upon winning the election. Under that interpretation, the county maintained she could not simultaneously draw a salary and retirement benefits from the same government entity.
Allen spent 30 years in various roles within the Georgia legal system before being elected district attorney. The career attorney argued that her retirement was earned through her decades-long career of service. Service that is distinct from her current state-funded salary.
“This is a retirement for a job I spent 30 years doing,” Allen told WSB-TV. “The fact that they would spend taxpayer money and go to this extent to not pay me a retirement…it almost feels personal.”
The judge’s order clarifies the legal distinction between county staff and constitutional officers. The judge noted that district attorneys in Georgia are paid by the state, not the county, which negates their claim that she is a rehire. The ruling requires the county to reinstate the payments Allen earned prior to her election.
County officials have not yet commented on whether they intend to challenge the ruling.
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