Inebriated man found sitting alone on steps of a church building

February 25, 2025
By: Dwayne Page

An inebriated man found sitting on the doorsteps of a church was arrested earlier this month for public intoxication.

35-year-old William Justin Goodman of Hodges Road, Smithville is under a $1,500 bond and he will be in court March 6.

Sheriff Patrick Ray said that on Saturday, February 15 a deputy found Goodman sitting on the steps of the Mount Pisgah Free Will Baptist Church. He was apparently there alone. Goodman smelled of alcohol, his speech was slurred, and he was unsteady on his feet. Goodman admitted to having consumed alcoholic beverages and narcotics prior to walking from his home on Hodges Road to the church. He was placed under arrest.

41-year-old Tabatha Marie Pasley of McMinnville is charged with bringing contraband into a penal institution. Her bond is $7,500.

Sheriff Ray said that on February 7 at 4:07 a.m. a female correctional officer at the jail conducted a strip search of Pasley, an inmate and Pasley produced a purple container from her body cavity. The container held 11 peach-colored pills believed to be suboxone.

54-year-old Paul Douglas Shackelford of College Street, Liberty is charged with reckless endangerment. His bond is $7,500 and he will be in court March 13.

Sheriff Ray said that on February 17 a deputy responded to a possible domestic complaint on College Street in Liberty. Upon arrival the officer spoke to all parties involved and determined that Shackelford had displayed a handgun in the direction of another person. He was then placed under arrest.

22-year-old Ricoryon Lammontez Henderson of Murfreesboro is named in a grand jury sealed indictment returned November 19, 2024 charging him with aggravated burglary of a habitation, burning personal property land, theft of property up to $1,000, and assault-threat of bodily injury (2 counts). His bond is $85,000 and he will be arraigned in criminal court March 5.

45-year-old Daniel Derrick Hill of Smith Road, Smithville is named in a grand jury sealed indictment for possession of methamphetamine with intent to manufacture, sell, or deliver (2 counts). The offenses were allegedly committed on April 25, 2023. His bond is $100,000 and he will be arraigned in criminal court on April 28.

23-year-old Elijah Thomas Hall of Short Mountain Highway, Smithville is charged with driving on a revoked license (2nd offense). He is under a $4.000 bond and his court date is March 6.

Sheriff Ray said that on February 20 at 6:47 p.m. a deputy was patrolling Short Mountain Highway when he spotted a brown Ford Ranger with its hazard lights on failing to maintain its lane. The officer pulled over the vehicle and spoke with the driver, Hall. According to the deputy, Hall stated that he had a restricted license. After the officer conducted a background check through central dispatch, he learned that the license was revoked and that Hall had a prior conviction on August 22, 2024 due to driving under the influence. Hall was placed in custody.

55-year-old Jeffery Lee Bates of Old West Point Road, Smithville is charged with public intoxication. His bond is $3,000 and he will be in court March 6.

Sheriff Ray said that on February 20 a deputy was summoned to Sparta Highway to do a welfare check on a man lying face down in a ditch. The officer found the man, Bates who became unsteady on his feet and he smelled of alcohol. He was placed under arrest.

26-year-old Kelsey Elizabeth Steinbach of Keltonburg Road, Smithville is charged with possession of a schedule I drug. Her bond is $4,000 and she will be in court March 6.

Sheriff Ray said that on February 23 a deputy went to Walmart looking for Steinbach who had two active warrants for her arrest. After locating Steinbach, he placed her in custody. Steinbach claimed she had acid inside the purse she was wearing at the time of her arrest. The officer searched the purse and found inside a clear plastic baggie a single-colored stamp believed to be LSD.

February 25, 2025
By: Dwayne Page

The wait is over!

After 67 years at the current location, Smithville Elementary, the oldest school building at its core in the county, will be getting a new home on property adjacent to Northside Elementary School.

During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting the county commission voted 12-1 to adopt a detailed bond resolution not to exceed $55 million to fund construction of a new 800 student Pre-K to 2nd grade elementary school. The term of the bond is for up to 30 years. The projected cost to build the new 124,207 square foot facility at the latest estimate is $53,414,825.

The new school will be funded only by revenues from local option sales tax money (local purpose/sinking fund) designated for school construction and operation. There will be no need for a property tax increase because the county will not be allocating any property tax money to fund it.

Commissioners voting for the bond resolution were Daniel Cripps, Myron Rhody, Tony Luna, Brandon Donnell, Tony (Cully) Culwell, Greg Matthews, Larry Green, Glynn Merriman, Jeff Barnes, Andy Pack, Beth Pafford, and Mathias Anderson. Tom Chandler voted against it. Sabrina Farler was absent.

Commissioner Chandler gave his reasons for not supporting the new school project.

“Lord knows this is a touchy subject. Let me first acknowledge that the school board has a responsibility to find what school should be built and when and how they should be maintained. But I also acknowledge that the county commission has a fiduciary responsibility to determine not just whether the funds are available to fund the school board’s plans but to also determine if those funds will be spent in the best interest of the county. So I exercise my fiduciary responsibility as a member of this commission to say that I do not think this plan is in the best interest of the county. I do not believe the current enrollment data nor the 10-year growth history in our schools warrants this particular plan of action at least as a first priority,” said Commissioner Chandler.

“I also believe the school board has willingly withheld maintenance and upgrades for Smithville Elementary that would have extended its life because they were determined to build a new elementary school no matter what. On multiple occasions I have said that I would vote for a comprehensive 30-year plan that included a new elementary school if that plan included a broader plan for repairs and upgrades to the middle school and the high school. This is not that plan. This is the same ole tired plan to build a new elementary school. I remind this commission that this school could have been built in 15 years and at a lower cost if the school board had coughed up $2 million 18 months ago,” Chandler continued. “However, I applaud the school board for their plan to build walls around some of the classrooms in the middle school. But you should ask yourselves. Why do we have classrooms with no walls? Open concept learning was bs 50 years ago and its bs today. No, we have classrooms with no walls because it was cheaper than building a real elementary school. It’s the same reason why we have a dormitory instead of a real jail,” said Chandler.

“For decades the infrastructure of this county has been addressed with financially low ball and shortsighted solutions and the public has been willingly led down that primrose path not because it made any sense but because they just didn’t want to pay higher taxes. The piper is at the door, and she is here not just about our schools but also about the courthouse, the jail, the community centers, the roads, the fire department, EMS, the list goes on. Stop and ponder this for a minute. Every child in kindergarten in DeKalb County today will have graduated from high school and for some of them their children will have graduated from high school before this school is paid for. At that point the high school will be 90 years old and the middle school will be 80 years old. That is not going to be an enticement for parents to put their children in DeKalb County Schools. Don’t you think we should have some idea of what the plan is for those schools and what it will cost before we continue down this primrose path” asked Chandler.

While the new school project has been set in motion, it still may take months for development to begin and perhaps as long as a year or more before the new school is ready to open.

“I talked to our architect today and we will get the topographical study done first and then we will go from there. It may take three months or so to get that completed because it is an extensive study. They will be doing core drilling and things of that nature on the property. Its not like building your house but we are excited to get started,” said Director of Schools Patrick Cripps.

The existing Smithville Elementary School, originally built in 1958, is 70,557 square feet in size (including additions over the years), and had an enrollment of 534 students as of August 2024. As far back as 2017, a facilities study by Upland Design Group, concluded that the school, which has mold and other concerns, should be replaced and repurposed for other uses.

According to Upland, the school board’s architect, the new Pre-K to 2nd grade Smithville Elementary School will be 124,207 square feet in size and will be designed to accommodate 800 students with room for future expansion to house up to 300 additional students (1,100) total. The school will be built with 11 classrooms for each grade level of kindergarten, first, and second grade (33 classrooms for 20 students each) along with seven Pre-K classrooms for 20 students each plus four CDC/SPED classrooms as needed. The future expansion will accommodate 15 new classrooms at 20 students each. There will be 189 parking spaces on the campus.

February 25, 2025
By: Dwayne Page

Leaving well enough alone!

The county commission Monday night during its regular monthly meeting rejected a proposal to amend the rules for public comments at the formal monthly county commission meetings effective July 1, 2025.

The proposed changes were recommended by members of the government services committee made up of Chairman Sabrina Farler, Larry Green (Secretary), Greg Matthews, Daniel Cripps (Vice Chair), and Tom Chandler.

Currently and going forward during formal monthly county commission meetings, any member of the public wishing to address the chairman of the county commission is given three minutes to speak on any topic at the beginning of the meetings. The speaker must give his or her name, address or their district of residence.

Had the policy been changed, members of the public wishing to speak at the formal monthly meetings would have been required to first sign up 30 minutes prior to the meetings. Once the meetings began, signees would have then been allowed to address the chair for up to three minutes but only on agenda items after giving their name, address and or district of residence. Also, before public comments the chairman would have been required to read aloud the previously established and standing rules which include that citizens are not permitted to call names, question the integrity or motive of any individual or make personal or derogatory comments.

There will also be no change in the public comment policy regarding workshops or committee meetings. Currently and going forward, any member of the public wishing to address the chair during a workshop or committee meeting is given three minutes at the end of the meeting for public comments and may speak on any issue without having to sign up.

During the public comments period Monday night, Sammie Maxwell addressed the chair and commission. “I am always a proponent of civility and decorum at meetings. If efficiency and better business is your goal that is wonderful. That’s good. If your goal is to silence someone that is not good. A hallmark of democracy is our freedom of speech to let our representatives know our opinions and thoughts. What I want to suggest is for you to consider an additional meeting, something like a public forum to let people feel that they have a say so,” said Maxwell.

Commissioner Myron Rhody argued against changing the current public comments policy. “We shouldn’t restrict the public from speaking about other concerns other than what’s on the agenda,” said Rhody. “They may have something that’s popped up within the last day or two they need to talk about. I don’t go along with all these changes. I do think it needs to be done in an orderly manner, but I am going to be in favor of leaving it like it is. After all we do work for them (public). They elected us to be their representatives,” said Commissioner Rhody.

As part of the proposed changes, the public would have been prohibited from applauding or making any unnecessary noise during the public comments period. Commissioner Beth Pafford said there was no need to make the rules so restrictive.

“I don’t believe telling people they can’t clap and being restrictive (to speaking only) to the agenda. There are not public forums where people can just talk and even here (county commission meetings) they (public) can’t ask questions and at all (meetings) except for one incident (public) has been very respectful when they have come up here to talk. I have concerns about passing these restrictions at this time because that’s what they look like. An attempt to restrict the public’s voice rather than to bring order to the meeting,” said Pafford.

Commissioner Tom Chandler made a motion to adopt the proposed amendments to the policies and procedures including the public comment rules as recommended by the government services committee. Commissioner Larry Green offered a second to the motion. Before the vote, Commissioner Beth Pafford moved to amend Chandler’s motion by excluding the proposal on “public comments” and her amendment was approved 9-4. In addition to Pafford, commissioners voting for the amendment were Myron Rhody, Greg Matthews, Andy Pack, Mathias Anderson, Glynn Merriman, Brandon Donnell, Jeff Barnes, and Tony Culwell. Commissioners opposed to Pafford’s amendment were Tom Chandler, Tony Luna, Larry Green, and Daniel Cripps. Sabrina Farler was absent.

The commission then voted on the motion as amended to basically leave the current public comments policy as it is with no changes. The vote was 11-2 in favor meeting the two thirds majority requirement for passage in this case. Only Chandler and Luna voted against it.

Amendments to the policies and procedures which were approved by a two thirds majority of the commission as recommended by the government services committee included a provision to change the term “committee of the whole” to “workshops” referring to meetings of the full county commission in a workshop or informative session. Also approved was an amendment to the policy that would prohibit the chairman of any standing committee to make a motion or a second to a motion.

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