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Cobb County Superior Court Clerk Connie Taylor — embroiled in controversy throughout much of her first term — handily won reelection Tuesday, according to unofficial returns.

Taylor, a Democrat, first came under fire in 2022 for taking passport processing fees as personal income: more than $425,000 in less than two years, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation found. She has also been investigated by the GBI for alleged violations of Georgia’s Open Records Act.

Multiple attorneys who practice in Cobb Superior Court have told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Taylor’s office has also struggled to maintain proper record-keeping for the court, which is her main duty as an elected constitutional officer. That has resulted in severe disruptions to court functions this year, they said.

Taylor did not respond to requests for comment.

Taylor defeated Republican challenger Deborah Dance, a former Cobb County Attorney, who said she came out of retirement to fix the issues in the clerk’s office. Taylor received about 54%, defeating Dance by more than 33,000 votes, according to unofficial results.

“I remain deeply concerned about the ongoing issues surrounding Connie Taylor’s administration, including the unresolved GBI investigation and possible prosecution, along with her unwillingness to address the public at any time during the race,” Dance said in a statement.

Cobb attorneys and judges say dysfunction within the clerk’s office has caused repeated delays within the county’s court system and hindered access to vital documents and court information. Taylor also changed the filing system, attorneys said, making it difficult for them to access documents that had previously been available free of charge. In addition, some judges and attorneys say longtime court employees left the clerk’s office under Taylor’s leadership.

Cobb Superior Court Chief Judge Gregory Poole took the extraordinary action of declaring a judicial emergency earlier this year due to the disruptions caused in part by the new filing system.

“I think that there have been so many people that have been fired and who have left because of the working conditions, it just makes it very difficult to work for that office, and everyone in the courthouse knows it,” Poole said to the AJC at the time. “There’s no way around it. It is a leadership issue.”

The order, which set aside filing deadlines and eliminated penalties for missed hearings, lasted 60 days and expired in October.

Marietta attorney Chuck Boring said many of Cobb’s attorneys set aside liberal political affiliations to support Dance “because people in the legal community know what a dumpster fire the clerk’s office is right now under Connie Taylor.”