A candidate for sheriff in neighboring Forsyth County was cited earlier this month in Dawson County for driving nearly 40 mph over the posted speed limit on Ga. 400.

According to the Dawson County Sheriff's Office, deputies clocked Duane K. Piper traveling north at 103 mph in a 2011 BMW 325I at about 10 a.m. Feb. 4.

The posted speed limit along that stretch of Ga. 400, which is near Landrum Road, is 65 mph.

Piper, 48, is scheduled to appear in Dawson County Probate Court on April 6. According to Probate Court clerks, the fine is $290.

The speed at which he was cited also brings Piper under the state's "super speeder" law, which would tack on an additional $200 to the penalty.

Anyone caught driving 85 mph or more anywhere in Georgia qualifies as a "super speeder."

Reached by phone, Piper said he was shocked when the sheriff's deputy told him how fast he was traveling.

"The officer was very professional," Piper said. "If he said I was going 103, then I was going 103."

Piper, a 25-year veteran of law enforcement, retired in October to run his campaign after 16 years with the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office.

He said he would pay the fine when he appears in Probate Court, as well as the "super speeder" citation when he receives it in the mail.

Dawson County Sheriff Billy Carlisle said his deputies do not offer preferential treatment to anyone when other lives could be in danger due to high rates of speed on local roads.

"We don't discriminate, 103 mph is too fast for anyone to be driving," Carlisle said.

Georgia' "super speeder" law took effect Jan. 1, 2010, and is designed as a revenue stream for Georgia's trauma care hospital system.

Fines for tickets are paid in the jurisdiction in which the citation is issued. Fees for "super speeding" are paid separately to the Georgia Department of Driver Services.

According to the Georgia Office of Highway Safety, 60 percent of all trauma care patients result from wrecks.