Judge drops contempt order against mother
An Augusta judge said late Friday that he had amended a ruling that ordered a Columbia County mother to pay more than $1,500 in past-due guardian ad litem charges or go to jail.
Superior Court Judge Michael Annis said he changed an order he made TuesÂday and would no longer hold Shannon Lingefelt, 36, of Evans, in contempt of court for owing Angel Kendrick $1,627 in fees the guardian claims she accrued while making custody recommendation's for the mother's two children, ages 9 and 13, during a 15-month appointment.
Annis had given Lingefelt until noon Friday to hand-deliver a check and said if she did not comply, she could either report to jail or let sheriff's deputies arrest her and remain behind bars until the account was paid in full.
Columbia County court records show Lingefelt appealed the decision at 3:57 p.m. Thursday, halting the impending jail time until the state court of appeals reviews the case.
Annis said Lingefelt still must pay the bill but no longer has a deadline.
"I was uncomfortable with the ruling from the get-go," Annis said, adding that this was the first contempt case he has heard on guardian ad litem fees.
Annis said he felt uncomfortable because Lingefelt's financial situation was never addressed at a hearing Tuesday in Richmond County requested by Kendrick to contest nonpayment.
"The issue was not whether she owes the money. Nobody goes to jail for owing money," he said. "The issue is whether she willfully disobeyed a court order while having the ability to comply with it."
Annis' order prompted eight protesters to march in front of the Columbia County Justice Center earlier Friday. Dressed in bright green and waving signs that read "Stop and Listen," "Audits = Accountability" and "Demand an Answer," they called for reform of an Augusta family court system that some parents, attorneys and advocates have equated to a "debtor's prison."
Lingefelt's attorney, Shannon Briley, had argued that Annis and Kendrick failed to demonstrate a "willful refusal" on Lingefelt's part to pay outstanding guardian fees.
Lingefelt's case is one of nearly a dozen included in a review by The AuÂgusta Chronicle in late November that found guardians ad litem in Richmond and Columbia counties - some of whom were appointed twice as often as their peers - faced few restrictions and virtually no oversight in their billing.
After the newspaper's investigation, the Augusta Bar Association's Family Law Section overhauled the program's billing, training and professional conduct policies to provide general oversight and accountability, but Lingefelt contends the changes have yet to take hold.
Before Annis' decision, she argued that Kendrick's fees were "unreasonable and unjustified" and that Kendrick's billing coordinator, Trisha Vautaw, was not sending monthly bills or making an effort to design a "mutually agreeable" payment plan, each of which is a violation of guardian appointment orders.
"I was not willfully denying payment," said Lingefelt, who is confident her appeal will be upheld. "I didn't receive the invoices so I couldn't pay. I don't feel like they were listening to me."
Lingefelt said she received her first invoice from Kendrick for $1,874 by text message Aug. 7, nine months after the guardian was appointed.
Since then, Kendrick claims at least five invoices were sent, but Lingefelt said she did not receive three of them until eight days after Kendrick filed for a court hearing May 14 to contest nonpayment.
Lingefelt provided a copy of an April bill that didn't include a detailed account of charges and three bills sent by e-mail that appeared to be doctored so that they would look as if they had been sent previously.
According to updated rules adopted by the bar and Augusta's judicial circuit, guardians cannot exceed $500 in fees on any case, unless authorized by a judge.
They also must provide invoices that include a brief description of all charges, payments and credits to date to both parties and their attorneys monthly.
The penalty for not adhering to those rules is possible termination from a case or removal as an approved guardian.
Cheryl Glover, who organized Stop Parental Bullying three years ago to advocate for parents who felt mistreated by the program, said cries for change will not stop.