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FRIDAY MIGHT LIGHTS! 11
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Vol. 143, No. 36 - Waynesboro, Ga. 30830 Established in 1882 Wednesday, October 25, 2023 - $1.00
Driving up revenue: a look at citations in Waynesboro
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
An open records request re
vealed how much money the City
of Waynesboro collected last year in
traffic citations and which drivers are
most likely to pay.
Last year, the Municipal Court
dealt with approximately 1,155 traf
fic tickets, resulting in $184,461 in
ordered fines and fees. Often when
a driver is convicted and ordered to
pay, if they do not have the money
on hand, they are put on probation.
About 40% of the offenders must
pay the added costs of probation
services for their driving offenses.
As of September 19, 2023, the city
collected $121,873 in fines and fees
and $62,588 was still outstanding.
From January 1,2022 to Decem
ber 31, 2022, 15 people were fined
for driving without a tag. Black and
white males were equally cited for
the traffic offense with six each.
Drivers who fail to register a
vehicle within 30 days, drive with
obscured or missing plates and im
proper transfers are the least likely
to get a ticket, with each offense
ticketed only one time. However,
drivers who use a tag to conceal their
identity are some of the least likely
to get fined. Although, there were
10 people who received the citation,
only three received fines and/or fees
of $163.00. In contrast, all three
people cited for alteration/improper
plates were ordered to pay $163.00.
Although the fines and fees for
operating without a proper tag range
from $163 to $700, out of the 23
people cited for the offense, more
than half were fined the maximum
amount.
Forty-seven people were popped
for driving while their license was re
voked or suspended, with 35 of them
ordered to pay $700, and more than
half of the offenders
listed as black males. SEE
There were 12 people CITATIONS,
cited for driving with 5
DON LIVELY
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, or it soon will
be at Waynesboro City Hall in downtown Waynesboro.
City leaders have decided to bring back an event that was
close to the late mayor of Waynesboro, Pauline Jenkins's
heart, the Mayor's Festival of Trees.
The site of the event will be the lobby of City Hall at
615 N. Liberty Street. The event will feature trees that are
decorated by local groups, schools, churches or individu
als. Due to limited space, the city will determine how many
trees can be accommodated and entries will be taken on a
"first come, first served" basis. Each group or individual
will be limited to a maximum of two trees. All trees must
be artificial. Table tops trees are allowed. Entrants must
provide their own power cords.
Two awards, voted on by visitors to City Hall, will be
awarded. One will be a "People's Choice" and the other
will be "Most Unique". A fifty dollar gift card will be
awarded to each winner.
Entrants wishing to "silent auction" their trees must be
willing to handle the details of the auction themselves as
the City will not be involved in the auctions.
Entrants will be allowed to begin placing their trees
at City Hall on Monday, November 20th - 22nd (City
Hall will be closed on November 23rd and 24th), and
on November 27th and 28th and must remain up until
at least Friday, December 8th, after which the trees can
be removed. City Hall will be open for tree viewing and
voting during Christmas On Liberty on Friday evening,
December 1st.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
PLEASE CALL 706-554-8000
FOR DON LIVELY OR EMMA MULLIS, OR
EMAIL DONLIVELY.DDA@GMAIL.COM.
EPD warns Sardis of well violation
GEORGIA
Department of Natural Resources
Environmental Protection division
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetuecitizen.shelliel@gmail.com
During the October 17 monthly
council meeting, Sardis Mayor
Roger Lane reported that the En
vironmental Protection Division
(EPD) has the city’s backup well on
their radar.
The EPD put the city on notice of
a violation pertaining to the city’s
backup well which is currently not
hooked into the city’s water system.
The EPD of the Georgia Depart
ment of Natural Resources is a state
agency charged with
protecting Georgia's
air, land and water
resources through the
authority of state and
federal environmen
tal statutes.
The EPD has advised that Sardis
needs to show proof the city is
actively seeking funding for this
project or face future violations.
According to Lane, Sardis applied
for funding a few years ago and
Turnipseed Engineers completed
a preliminary design. However, to
apply for funding now, the design
will have to be updated. The council
voted unanimously to contact CSRA
Regional Commission to seek grant
funding and to contact Turnipseed
regarding updating the preliminary
design.
Old cases add
to jail costs
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
During the August 28 budget work
session, the Board of Commissioners
voiced their concern to State Court
Judge Jackson Cox as to what could
be done to speed up the court docket.
They were addressing the jail crisis
that costs the taxpayers thousands of
dollars a month to house inmates in
other counties.
A search of the Burke County
Sheriff’s Office’s online inmate
inquiry shows a group of seven
inmates who were arrested between
January 1,2018 and December 31,
2021 and are still sitting in jail.
A check Friday, October 20
showed Jacob Mathew Miller has
been in the facility for 711 days on
four felony counts of aggravated as
sault. However, he and Richard Sears
Adams are also in for safekeeping for
the U.S. Marshals Office. Adams has
spent 1,306 days in jail for a felony
count of trafficking cocaine and
is also in safekeeping for Screven
County. Additionally, Odis Rushing
who has been there for 586 days is in
for safekeeping for Emanuel County.
But according to BCSO online re
cords it looks like he has also now
accumulated charges while in the
Burke County jail.
Although, according to a July
order for Nolle Prosequi, Jared
Williams’ office will not prosecute
Antonio Lamar Haynes for his part
in an April 2019 shooting death,
Haynes is still sitting in the Burke
County Detention Center and re
cently surpassed his 1,649th day due
to safekeeping for Jefferson County.
The remaining three long-term
inmates also involve cases handled
by District Attorney Jared Williams’
office. As of Friday, October 20,
Robert Lee Mapp has spent 617 days
in jail for the felony charges of ag
gravated sodomy and exploitation of
a disabled adult. Darius Terrell Sav
age has spent 948 days in jail for fel
ony murder, kidnapping and armed
robbery. Horace Eugene Wesby has
spent 941 days in jail on charges of
aggravated child molestation.
In fact, a closer look at the Burke
County Clerk of Court’s website
shows all the open 2021 cases belong
to the District Attorney’s Office. The
True Citizen found 12 cases remain
open from that year. One of the
defendants is currently incarcerated
at the Burke County facility. Forrest
Michael Mitchell has spent 208 days
in jail for the April 2020 (indicted in
2021) incident that led to charges of
aggravated assault, family violence.
The other 11 open cases include
two defendants who are charged
with rape and are not
listed as inmates on the g ^ g
BCSO inmate inquiry COSTS
system as currently ’
incarcerated. ®