Attorneys for sheriff file response to county suit

A response to Lincoln County's petition for declaratory judgment relief against Sheriff Gerald Lawson was filed recently in Lincoln County Superior Court.

The two legal documents stem from a January 25 meeting between Lawson and the board of commissioners during which the board asked the sheriff to transfer $16,000 in revenues, generated by the inmate telephone system at the Lincoln County Law Enforcement Center, to the county's General Fund.

Sheriff Lawson contended that he believed he had the legal right to enter into a contract with Evercom Systems, Inc., the company that provides telephone services to the inmates. He further indicated that the revenues from the system are public funds and not budgeted revenues, and he has the right to place the funds in a separate bank account and use the money to purchase items that would benefit the inmates.

The sheriff did not turn over the funds to the county, and the commission voted unanimously to give him one week to do so or it would file for a declaratory judgment.

Lawson failed to comply with the ultimatum.

In a declaratory judgment, a judge declares the rights of the parties or expresses the opinion of the court on a question of law, without ordering anything to be done. Basically, a judgment of this nature will establish the proper disposition of the revenues generated by inmate telephone calls.

In the petition for declaratory judgment filed February 16, it was stated that the county anticipated the receipt of the telephone commissions as revenue to help fund the budget, and the sheriff's refusal to turn over the money has resulted in a loss of revenue for the county.

In his affidavit, Commission Chairman Walker Norman stated, "The sheriff's conduct has interfered with the county's budgeting process; the sheriff is attempting to usurp the board of commissioners' fiscal authority by devising his own 'budget' for collecting revenue and paying expenses at the jail."

Sheriff Lawson's response to the county's petition was prepared by John B. Long and Troy A. Lanier of Tucker, Everitt, Long, Brewton, & Lanier of Augusta.

According to the "Responsive Pleadings" drafted by the attorneys:

.. "The sheriff's contract with the provider of the telephones does not create any liability or financial obligation for the county commission; and therefore, the sheriff is free to place any small revenue received from that contract back into the jail and provide benefits for inmates, since the inmates and their relatives are responsible for the creation of those revenues."

.. All monies received from the telephone system have been used to operate the jail or are "currently held in an account to be used to pay future expenses associated with the operation of the jail."

These funds are used to run the jail more efficiently and to satisfy obligations that would otherwise be shouldered by the taxpayers of the county.

"Sheriff Lawson further shows that jail phones serve, in part, as a law enforcement tool and promote the law enforcement mission of the sheriff's office."

.. Contrary to the county commission's position, these revenues do not constitute 'county' funds but rather monies generated by a telephone system which was established and is presently maintained at no expense to the county.

.. All of the monies have been properly documented and subject to proper accounting by the sheriff's office. The records are available for public inspection.

Moreover, the account was "previously the subject of a thorough audit conducted by an independent accounting firm at the direction of the board of commissioners. This audit has confirmed that all such monies have been properly deposited or utilized."

.. "As a constitutional officer of the state of Georgia, Sheriff Lawson has the legal right to accept, hold, and control public monies related to fulfillment of the duties, obligations, and responsibilities of the office of sheriff of Lincoln County."

Likewise, the document stated that as a constitutional officer of the state, the sheriff shows he has acted in a "wholly proper and legal manner in depositing revenues generated from inmate jail phones into an account used solely to pay expenses associated with the operation of the jail."

.. The sheriff maintained that the civil action was "improvidently filed and constitutes an unnecessary burden on the entities and taxpayers of Lincoln County." He denied that the action had been "'properly authorized'" by the commissioners as was stated in the county's petition.

The response from Lawson's attorneys also contains a "Statement of Controlling Law" in which the attorneys cited case law in rebuttal of the statutes put forth in the petition for declaratory judgment drafted by Michael A. O'Quinn, who is serving as the attorney for the county in this matter.

Among other issues addressed in this section, Long and Lanier wrote that Sheriff Lawson has made "no attempt 'to circumvent and usurp the Plaintiff's (the county's) authority to review, approve, and fund the budget for (his) office and the operations of the jail'" as alleged in the petition for declaratory judgment.

"To the contrary, Sheriff Lawson's practice of maintaining jail phone monies in an account which is open to review and inspection by the Plaintiff at any time does not interfere, to any extent, with the Plaintiff's capability to 'review, approve, and fund the budget' for the sheriff's office or for the operations of the jail.

"As the balance in the account is public information available for use by the Plaintiff in its budgeting process, the Plaintiff is not prevented from utilizing information regarding jail phone money in its budgeting process. So long as the board of commissioners has access to information regarding the account and so long as the monies of the account are used to pay for expenses related to the operation of the jail, the Plaintiff's budgeting process is completely unaffected by whether the account is held by the county sheriff or the board of commissioners."

At the conclusion of the document, Sheriff Lawson requested that the relief sought in the county's petition be denied by the court; that the county's claims be dismissed on the merits; and that all costs be taxed against the county.

According to Bruce Beggs, superior court clerk for Lincoln County, the judges in the Toombs Judicial Circuit, which includes Lincoln County, have recused themselves from making a ruling on the matter. The case has since been assigned to Penn McWhorter, a senior superior court judge from Winder.