A hearing on a motion to unseal state Rep. Austin Scott’s (R-Tifton) divorce files is scheduled for Oct. 26 in Tift Superior Court. Scott is running against incumbent Jim Marshall (D-Macon) for the 8th Congressional District seat.

According to reports in The Macon Telegraph, Macon attorney Carmel Sanders filed the request Thursday on behalf of Amy Morton, a Democratic Party activist and blogger who resides in Macon. Tift County Superior Court Judge Melanie Cross signed the order setting the date of the hearing before Tift County Superior Court Judge Bill Reinhardt. According to a spokesperson in the Tift Superior Court judges’ office, neither Cross nor Reinhardt will comment on a case that is pending.

Scott said Tuesday that filing of the motion came just days after polls showed that his lead over Marshall had grown substantially.

“This is an act of desperation by a person who is getting beaten on his voting record,” Scott said.

Doug Moore, Marshall’s chief of staff and press secretary, said in a Tuesday afternoon telephone interview that neither Marshall nor his campaign is involved in the case.

“It was not on Congressman Marshall’s instruction to do this,” Moore said. “We didn’t know this was coming and didn’t know anything about it. We were caught by surprise.”

Moore referred additional questions to the attorneys involved in the case.

The divorce of Austin Scott and Annette Leigh Scott was final in 2001. According to The Macon Telegraph, the divorce records were sealed on July 9, 2004.

“He’s trying to change the focus of the campaign,” Scott said.

Scott would not comment on why the divorce records were sealed, but said that it was a mutual decision that he and his first wife made.  

To contact senior reporter Angie Thompson, call 382-4321.