Note to state officials – when Superior Court Judge Brenda H. Trammell gives an order, it’s probably best to comply.
Following a court hearing last week, Trammell, the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit’s chief judge, ordered the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD) to pay Putnam County Sheriff’s Office $5,588.56 in restitution for leaving a defendant in Putnam’s jail.
The defendant, a Putnam County woman, was initially charged with robbery and simple battery in August 2022, according to court records. But then while she was being arrested and subsequently in jail, she also was charged with several counts of obstruction of law enforcement officers due to her reportedly pushing, biting, scratching, and threatening different deputies.
Approximately four weeks before the defendant’s scheduled trial date in February, her attorney, Kevin Stroberg of the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Public Defender’s Office, filed a motion for a mental competence evaluation. The evaluation on March 20 “opined that the Defendant was competent to stand trial,” court records reveal. A bench trial was held in May with all parties involved in the case.
After considering the evaluation result, incident reports, and testimony of the parties, Trammell ruled the defendant was “incompetent to stand trial…unlikely to be restored to competence in the foreseeable future…and poses a substantial danger to herself and the community.”
“Therefore, she meets the criteria for inpatient or outpatient civil commitment as provided by law,” Trammell wrote in her Order.
Trammell’s ruling also ordered the defendant to be committed to the DBHDD for involuntary inpatient or outpatient treatment at a facility previously named by the DBHDD.
“If such placement is no longer an option, DBHDD shall submit a proposed care and placement plan to the Court for final determination,” Trammell said in the Order and added that the Court retains jurisdiction concerning the defendant’s long-term care for 20 years.
The Order was issued to DBHDD on June 14.
“The State just ignored it,” Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills said of the order. “Our state government routinely tells you that you have to obey the law, but they arrogantly refuse to do so themselves.”
Meanwhile, the above-mentioned defendant remained in jail at the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office.
Sills said not only were the taxpayers of Putnam County footing the bill for her food, clothing, and housing, but she prescribed medication as well. He said from June 14 until Oct, 31 of this year, the total amount of the medication was $5,588.56.
“And that doesn’t include how much it has cost us since she was first put in jail in August 2022, or what it cost to feed, clothe, and house her,” he added.
So, Sills requested Judge Trammell and Attorney F. Adam Nelson, of Putnam County’s attorneys Flaming & Nelson, to file a contempt order. Contempt of Court is charged when a person disobeys a court order or exhibits disrespectful behavior toward a judge.
A Show Cause Hearing was held on Nov. 28 in Putnam County Superior Court. Trammell presided as representatives and attorneys of DBHDD, the Georgia Attorney General’s Office, the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Public Defender’s Office, and the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office provided their evidence and arguments.
On Nov. 29, Trammell issued a Contempt Order, citing the DBHDD in Contempt of Court and ordering the DBHDD to pay Putnam County Sheriff’s Office $5,588.56 and to take custody of the defendant.
“Anytime the words ‘pick them up’ appears in the paperwork, they don’t pick up anybody,” Sills said of state agencies. “We have to transport the person to them.”