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FRIDAY MIGHT LIGHTS! 11 O 04 ^3* ■'3- O 04 OJ 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. ®