Martin Simmons
Introduction
Martin Simmons is a former Hall County Sheriff’s Office deputy in northeast Georgia who was fired on October 14, 2026, and arrested on family violence charges after an Oakwood Police Department investigation into an allegation that he slapped a 4-year-old child in a Flowery Branch home. Oakwood police charged Simmons with battery under the Family Violence Act and third-degree cruelty to children under the Family Violence Act. The Hall County Sheriff’s Office dismissed him after Oakwood investigators notified his supervisors of his pending arrest β less than a month after he had been promoted to investigator, and while he was still in training for that job. The charges are accusations, and Simmons is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Background Information
Simmons joined the Hall County Sheriff’s Office as a jailer in July 2023, graduated from the police academy in September 2024 and transferred to the agency’s Uniform Patrol Division the following month, according to the sheriff’s office. Earlier in October 2026 he was promoted to the rank of investigator and was undergoing training for the position when he was dismissed. The September incident that ended his law enforcement career took place in a bedroom of a Flowery Branch home, where, according to the Oakwood police incident report, Simmons was trying to put the 4-year-old to bed when the encounter escalated into the alleged slap.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Charged and fired. Simmons faces family violence charges accusing him of slapping a 4-year-old child hard enough to leave a visible handprint on the boy’s face, and the sheriff’s office fired him the day investigators flagged his pending arrest.
According to the incident report from Oakwood police, juvenile children overheard Simmons physically assaulting the 4-year-old in a bedroom of the Flowery Branch home at around 8 p.m. on Sept. 9. The child was crying because he did not want to go to bed when the other occupants of the home overheard the slap, Oakwood Lt. Stewart Webb told AccessNorthGA; another adult in the home attempted to break up the altercation. WSB-TV reported that when a woman tried to get into the room to stop him, Simmons would not allow her in, and that the child eventually opened the door and Simmons began yelling while the woman stood between them; the child told the woman she wanted Simmons out of the house, investigators said. The report describes a visible handprint on the left side of the child’s face, accompanied by swelling and reddish abrasions, with purple bruising becoming apparent the following day. Oakwood Police Chief Tim Hatch said the assault left a “significant mark” on the child’s face.
WSB-TV reported that per the police report, the Georgia Department of Family and Child Services reported the September domestic incident to the Hall County Sheriff’s Office, which passed it to Oakwood police in October. The sheriff’s office said it asked Oakwood to investigate after receiving a complaint alleging potential criminal misconduct by Simmons, and conducted a separate internal investigation of its own. Oakwood charged Simmons with battery under the Family Violence Act and third-degree cruelty to children under the Family Violence Act. Webb led the criminal investigation and presented the findings to a Hall County judge, who issued arrest warrants; Webb later served the warrants on Simmons at the sheriff’s office with sheriff’s office personnel, and Simmons was taken to the Hall County Jail. The sheriff’s office said Simmons was fired on Oct. 14, after Oakwood police investigators notified his supervisors of the pending arrest.
Public Reaction and Consequences
The case drew wide coverage in metro Atlanta and northeast Georgia, with WSB-TV reporting that per the account in the police report, the 4-year-old was hit hard enough that other children in the home could hear it through the wall. The reports also outlined protective consequences already in place: per the police report, Simmons is no longer allowed contact with the child. FOX 5 Atlanta noted that Oakwood police are handling questions about the criminal case, and that the sheriff’s office ran its own internal investigation alongside the criminal one. The Hall County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the employment timeline and the October 14 dismissal, which came roughly five weeks after the September incident.
Current Status
Simmons has been charged with battery and third-degree cruelty to children under Georgia’s Family Violence Act, but those charges are accusations, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. He was arrested after warrants were served at the Hall County Sheriff’s Office and processed into the Hall County Jail. Per the police report as described by WSB-TV, he is barred from contact with the child. He is no longer employed by the Hall County Sheriff’s Office, which fired him on October 14, 2026.
Impact on Their Career/Life
The arrest and firing erased a law enforcement career that was, by the sheriff’s office’s own account, on an upward track: hired as a jailer in July 2023, academy graduate within fourteen months, a Uniform Patrol transfer the month after that, and an investigator’s promotion in early October 2026 β undone within weeks, while he was still training for the new rank. A family violence case also carries consequences beyond the badge: the charges allege conduct against a child in a home with other children present, per the incident reports, and the no-contact term reported by WSB-TV restricts his interaction with the alleged victim while the case proceeds. Whatever the criminal outcome, the dismissal is final on the employment side β he lost the investigator’s post he had held for only days.
Sources
- AccessNorthGA, “Hall County deputy fired after arrest on Family Violence Charges”, Oct 19, 2026 β source
- FOX 5 Atlanta, “Hall County deputy fired after allegedly slapping child”, 2026 β source
- WSB-TV, “Deputy fired, accused of hitting 4-year-old hard enough for other kids to hear through wall”, Oct 20, 2026 β source