BACK TO SCHOOL
BACK TO SCHOOL
SPORTS
The word has come down from the DeKalb County School System. Items such as bare midriffs, sagging pants and clothing bearing racy slogans will not be tolerated. B1
With the first day of the new school year just a few weeks away, workers are busy prepping three DeKalb schools in their new locations. B6
The Decatur Court Kings came up short in their quest for the WBA championship, but some players got even better – NBA scouts who took notice. A10
Dress well or else!
Schools on the move
Copyright © 2009 CrossRoadsNews, Inc.
July 18, 2009
Reaching new heights
www.crossroadsnews.com
Volume 15, Number 11
County failed to provide resources for Recorders Court By Jennifer Ffrench Parker
The loss of millions of dollars in uncollected revenues and existence of a warrant “black hole” at the DeKalb Recorders Court exist because of long-standing inaction on the part of DeKalb County government, county documents show. The court, which processes more than 230,000 citations annually and projects revenues of $21.4 million in 2009, collects fines for traffic and code violations. It has been under intense scrutiny for the loss of more than $20 million in uncollected fines, and for the actions of 11 rogue employees who allegedly ran side businesses
“Recorders Court’s short fallings, however, stem from inadequate staffing, facilities, funding and technology, all of which have been brought to the attention of the previous and the current administrations.” Chief Judge Joy R. Walker, DeKalb County Recorders Court
collecting cash and favors for themselves to settle traffic citations. At a June 30 press conference, CEO Burrell Ellis said it is important for county government to begin the process of “re-establishing the DeKalb County Recorders Court’s judicial and financial integrity and its ability to fulfill its
responsibilities to the county and its citizen.” Ellis’ statements followed the June 25 indictments by District Attorney Gwen Keyes Fleming of 11 people – including four former Recorders Court employees – who fixed traffic tickets for cash and store credits, and a DeKalb Grand
Jury’s subpoena of financial documents from the Recorders Court other county departments. During the press conference, Ellis laid the blame for the court’s problems on Chief Judge Joy Walker and Chief Clerk Joyce Head. “It is clear to me that was a responsibility of the chief clerk by statute and the chief judge was not entirely clear in terms of her responsibility to the administration of these things,” he said. But correspondence dating back to 2003 – obtained by CrossRoadsNews – between Chief Judge Joy Walker and court staff and the administrations of CEOs Vernon Jones and Ellis, paint a
picture of county officials erecting obstacles to or ignoring the Recorders Court’s efforts to serve arrest warrants and increase its collection of fines. In letters and memos, Walker, the court’s chief judge, tried repeatedly to get staff, space, technology and other resources to improve the court’s efficiency, serve warrants and collect fines – but was repeatedly denied. Even when Walker pointed out the millions of dollars that could be collected in fines, county officials turned a blind eye. In a July 3 statement followPlease see WALKER, page A4
Celebrating a Link to Ancestry
Jennifer Ffrench Parker / CrossRoadsNews
Jennifer Ffrench Parker / CrossRoadsNews
Trip to Sapelo Island replete with ceremony, emotion
Curtis Parker / CrossRoadsNews
When 50 members of First Afrikan Presbyterian Church went to Sapelo Island on July 10 and 11, the trip was filled with prayer, reflections, music and dance. As part of the church’s annual ancestral walk, members paid
homage to their African ancestry with visits to the Gullah people who have lived continuosly on the island since the 1840s, and pledged support in their fight to keep their land. Above, Elder Itihari Toure and other church members
launched toy boats in the ocean in memory of the Africans who survived the grueling Middle Passage on the slave ships that brought them to America. Story, page A9