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WAYNESBORO, GEORGIA
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Vol. 143, No. 47 - Waynesboro, Ga. 30830 Established in 1882 Wednesday, January 10, 2024 - $1.00
Sheriff implements 240% rate hike:
MPD uses Jenkins County Jail instead
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetuecitizen.shelliel@gmail.com
As funding rapidly dissipates,
Sheriff Alfonzo Williams is looking
at extreme measures to reduce the
number of inmates at the Burke
County Detention Center (BCDC).
The price of housing inmates in
neighboring jails cost Burke County
taxpayers more than $650,000 in
2023. This fiscal year, the Sheriff
said the detention center is scheduled
to run out of operating funds by
March of this year.
According to a December 11 email
addressed to probation and court
personnel and police chiefs, the
Sheriff is exploring the possibilities
of how to bring the jail population
down to 90 inmates.
When the Sheriff wrote the
correspondence, the Burke County
Sheriff’s Office was housing 93
prisoners at the BCDC. Another
40 inmates were held by other
counties. The Sheriff pointed to a
daily population of 80-90 inmates,
extending past the 75-inmate limit
he had set for the facility. He set
the lower limit despite the BCDC
housing up to 128 inmates in the
past. Williams blamed the population
problem on an uptick in gang activity
and inadequate funding from the
Board of Commissioners.
Some of the ways Sheriff Williams
suggested as downsizing measures
include bringing all inmates back
to Burke County and releasing
50-60 of them into the community
or to state and federal institutions.
Another idea included disallowing
the Waynesboro, Sardis and Midville
Police Departments from using
the BCDC to house their inmates.
Also, banned from the jail could be
probation and parole violators, and
those charged with misdemeanors
and DUIs.
Williams met with court and
probation officials and police chiefs
December 14 to discuss the issue.
A decision was made to increase
the municipalities’ costs of housing
inmates at the BCDC from $25/day
to $85/day. However, it’s a price tag
Midville cannot afford to pay.
In a January 3 letter addressed to
Mayor Wallace Lemons, City Clerk
Sara Kempffer and
Millen Judge Duff
Ayers, Midville RATE HIKE ’
Police Chief Clayton ®
Mobley
hands over
field trials
after more
than 4
decades
of service
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
Nell Mobley has dedicated her life
to successfully pulling off the annual
Georgia Field Trial competitions here.
Getting up in years, she thought she’d
better start training someone to assume
all that her position demands. She
wanted to hand it over to a relative, since
the Mobley family has been associated
with the event nearly since its beginning
in 1903.
Nell has volunteered as the secretary
since 1981, but took over the management
of the event after her husband Lamar
passed away in 1988. She
kept her promise to him that SEE
she would keep the event MOBLEY
going strong. Last January, 8
LAMAMH0BLEY
STABLES
Nell Mobley and her
grandson Craig Elliott
stand outside a stable
January 4 that is
named after Craig’s
grandfather, Lamar
Mobley. Lamar orga
nized the Georgia
Field Trial Association
event from the 1970s
until his death.
Southern hospitality is a crucial aspect of the event and
includes an annual fish fry held January 3. (left, front to
back) Mark McClain, Nell Mobley, Matthew Jenkins and
Chris Stewart; (right, front to back) Ben Roberts, Art
Lively and Craig Elliott.
2023 - A Year In Review - Part Two
Compiled by
Roy F. Chalker Jr.
JULY 5
Keysville citizens expressed
confusion during the council
meeting when it was announced
by Councilwoman Maggie Terrell
that Mayor Linda Wilkes borrowed
approximately $54,000 from road
funds to help pay for the construction
of a second well without the City
Council’s approval.
After the meeting, Wilkes stated
that Terrell was incorrect and the
$54,000 didn’t come from the
roads account, but rather a different
account instead.
Further confusion stemmed from
the mayor previously exclaiming the
city already had the funding in the
bank to finance the $397,000 project.
Obituaries included Thelma B.
Allen, Teresa Godbee, Henry Warren
Glisson, Jr. and Quartus Urbane
Lively, Jr.
JULY 12
Men who served in the Waynesboro
National Guard Armory after WWII
reunited July 8 at the Burke County
Library.
“We had a ball back in the day we
wore the uniform, there is no doubt
about that,” said organizer of the
event, Chief Warrant Officer Tony
McDaniel.
The men who attended shared
treasured memories and stories
of their time in their units. Men
who served in the Battery D, 101st
Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion, the
Company B 111th Signal Battalion,
the Company A 3rd Battalion 121st
Infantry Regiment and the Battery
C 1st-214th Field
Artillery were
present. REVIEW,
5
IMPORTANT DATES
PRESIDENTIAL PREFERENCE PRIMARY ELECTION
DECEMBER 25,2023
Applications for absentee by-mail ballots accepted through March 1
FEBRUARY 19,2024
Last day to register or change an address and absentee in-person
voting begins. Early voting takes place Friday, February 19- S aturday,
March 2. Voting hours are 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. at the historic courthouse.
MARCH 12,2024
Presidential Preference Primary Election. Voting takes place 7
a.m.-7 p.m. at assigned polling stations. No voting will take place at
the historic courthouse.
Understanding the
upcoming primary election
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
The Presidential Preference
Primary Election can be confusing,
especially for first-time voters.
Voters must declare a party
preference when they go to vote.
Based on their selection, they
will receive a ballot with only the
candidates running under that party.
There are no local races taking
place in the March 12,2024 election.
DEMOCRATIC PARTY
CANDIDATES:
President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
kicked off the 2024 election season in
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
“Whether democracy is still
America's sacred cause is what the
2024 election is all about," he said.
During Biden’s first administration,
the Inflation Reduction Act was
implemented. The public policy
targeted costs for families, the
climate crisis and reducing the
deficit, according to the Biden-
Harris Record. More information
is available about Biden’s
administration at www.whitehouse.
gov/therecord.
Dean Phillips
Dean Phillips is a three-term
Democratic Congressman from
Minnesota running on a platform
of relieving the economic hardship
felt by working families, repairing
the broken political system and
reimagining the solutions to the
most intractable problems plaguing
American society.
More information SEE
about him is available ELECTION,
at https://www. ~