Time Capsule

As reported 26 years ago in the pages of The Columbia News and The Martinez-Evans Times, Wednesday, May 2, 1979:

Commission votes to sue

The Columbia County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to proceed with legal action to release court funds currently withheld by order of Superior Court Judge Franklin H. Pierce.

Pierce ordered Superior Court Clerk Jake Pollard Jr. in February to withhold all court fines until improvements were made to the Appling courthouse. Pierce later found the commissioners in contempt of court for not making the requested repairs, and imposed a 15-day jail sentence and $150 fine for each. The case is currently under appeal.

"There's a question in my mind whether it is legal for him (Pierce) to withhold the money," said Commissioner Dillard Watkins in making the motion to proceed with legal action.

According to Watkins, between $800 and $1,000 in court fines is currently being withheld.