Holdover in Hastings

[XLFD]

 A report originating out of the Barry County Courthouse has Barry Probate Judge William Doherty (left) sentencing a mother Tara Mathis to 24 days in the local jail because she could not immediately come up with a judgment of $246 against her.  Instead of being immediately transferred to the jail for processing, she was put in a holding cell at the court. 

When the court officers changed shifts, apparently the fact there was someone in the holding cell was not passed along and she was forgotten about, until someone contacted the sheriff's office about her being a missing person later that night.  

Some deputy likely told the caller that they couldn't treat her as missing until more time had elapsed, but then a connection was made and a deputy was dispatched to the courthouse where they found Mathis still in her cell at the courthouse, handcuffed, alone, and uncared for over the last six hours. 

Over two hours later she was taken to the jail and was fortunate enough to have someone post bail for her, which equated to paying off the $246 debt.  

Tara, who according to her Facebook page, is a cashier at a Family Fare Supermarket, likely gets minimum wage and inconsistent hours, so that a weekly take home paycheck of $246 is optimistic, and probably all spent by the following Monday, given that she appears to be a mother of four by her Facebook cover photo:

By Wednesday, facing an as of yet unclear list of court fees and real debt for child support, it would be likely she would have been broke and in any case, not expecting to be immediately responsible for the relatively small debt.  She likely would have needed to make some arrangements for child care, as she looks to have custody of at least one kid. 

The negligence of the deputies in handling her incarceration should have her seeing some dollars in the future, and perhaps have authorities looking further into the large amount of jail time for the relatively small amount of debt.  For every day of imprisonment inability to pay a civil fine (which results in civil contempt) the debtor gets $30 credit, so the most she could have gotten was eight days.  It would lend a bit of credence to this letter to the editor about the local system. 

 

What do you think about this situation?  The article about this incident from WOOD TV follows: 

HASTINGS, Mich. (WOOD) — Police are investigating after a woman was left in a holding cell at the Barry County Courthouse in Hastings for more than six hours.

Tara Mathis appeared before a judge regarding a child support issue around 2 p.m. Wednesday. She was ordered to pay $246 or spend 24 days in jail.  After she told the judge she didn’t have any money, Mathis was placed in the court lockup where she remained for hours.

The deputy who was working in the court was relieved by another deputy who was not told that there was a woman in court lockup to be transported to the jail, according to a release from the Barry County Sheriff’s Office. At the end of the day, everyone left the courthouse.

Around 8:20 p.m. Wednesday, a deputy was dispatched to Little Long Drive in Hastings on a report of a missing person — which turned out to be Mathis.  While conducting a search of the courthouse, Mathis was located in the lockup cell.  Mathis was taken to the Barry County Jail where she was booked and posted bond around 10:50 p.m. Wednesday.

The incident remains under investigation.

http://woodtv.com/2014/10/16/woman-accidentally-left-in-court-locku...

[Willy]

This sort of thing has been happening to men for years [lack of payment, not being forgotten in jail]. I don't know the answer to this problem except that young people should take heed and have children only if they can financially afford them and if they are in a committed relationship [marriage]. But when your young and horny all caution is thrown out the window which ends up, many times, in a bad situation. Just look at the welfare system that gobbles up taxpayer money like a vacuum. There is an entire industry [welfare system] that relies on stupid people being irresponsible and making themselves dependent on public assistance.