On Tuesday, Sept. 1, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested Georgia Department of Corrections Special Agent in Charge Robert “Bobby” Keim, 45, of Eatonton, on the charge of misuse of a license plate reader system.
The GDC asked the GBI to conduct the investigation on Aug. 18, according to a notice from the GBI. Mary Chandler, special agent in charge of the GBI’s Region 6 investigative office in Milledgeville, said preliminary information indicated Keim had used the GDC’s Flock Safety System for non-law enforcement purposes.
Keim has worked for GDC for almost nine years, conducting and heading up criminal investigations, and internal and external investigations, according to his biography. He became Special Agent in Charge in August 2026.
Keim was well known in the Eatonton and Putnam County area, not only because it is where he lives, but because he frequently assists investigators with Eatonton Police Department and Putnam County Sheriff’s Office. He has been named in several of The Eatonton Messenger articles for helping EPD and PCSO as a translator.
Several years ago, Keim worked part-time with the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, according to Sheriff Howard Sills.
“This arrest has nothing to do with anything he did at Putnam County Sheriff’s Office,” Sills said. “He didn’t have access to Flock as an employee of the sheriff’s office. And he has not been on our payroll in four years.”
After his arrest, Keim was booked into Putnam County Jail. He was released on a $1,000 bond, according to jail records.