A visiting judge in town Thursday to hear a lawsuit filed against the SPLOST vote to fund the construction of a new county jail found James Quarterman, who filed the suit, in contempt of court, both on civil and criminal charges and dismissed the suit.

Judge G. Grant Brantley, a senior Superior Court judge from the Cobb judicial circuit, presided over a lawsuit Quarterman filed to throw out a portion of the Nov. 3 referendum which voters approved.

On the criminal contempt charge, Brantley assessed a fine of $500 and sentenced Quarterman to 20 days in jail. On the civil charge, Quarterman was ordered to pay $500 a day from November 12 — the date the lawsuit was filed — through December 3, a total of $11,000. He was also ordered by the judge to pay attorneys’ fees and court costs.

Brantley directed deputies to immediately take Quarterman into custody.

After a morning of hearing motions and evidence in the suit against the SPLOST vote, Brantley ultimately ruled that Quarterman had violated an order by Superior Court Judge David Emerson, whose Nov. 3, 2007, ruling ordered Quarterman to not file another lawsuit in the county until he has paid some $50,900 in attorney fees and went on to say that Quarterman must get permission from a Superior Court judge to file a lawsuit.

Brantley dismissed the lawsuit based on the fact that Quarterman did not get permission and found Quarterman in contempt of court on the same basis.

“It (Emerson’s order) didn’t say you couldn’t file a lawsuit, but it did say you had to get permission,” he said.

Defense Attorney Benton J. Mathis, Jr. reiterated the order throughout the day, filing a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, James Quarterman vs Laurie Fulton etal. Later, when asking for the contempt charges, Mathis said he did not file (the motion) lightly but thought they were both appropriate in this case.

In the lawsuit, Quarterman called into question the $150 million special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) voters approved for building a new jail. His lawsuit alleged that it was not a legitimate election and he filed a motion to null and void the SPLOST. The suit said, in part, that Douglas County Sheriff Phil Miller and County Commission Chairman Tom Worthan improperly campaigned to get the SPLOST approved, and that the election was unlawful because some of the voters had to vote in two different places,

According to Mathis, Quarterman alleged criminal conduct by officials, including threats and intimidation by them to get the SPLOST passed.

Noting that Quarterman is not a lawyer, Brantley held Quarterman on a tight rein as he counseled him on courtroom procedure, At one point, he corrected Quarterman when Quarterman described the proceedings as a contest instead of a lawsuit.

“It is a lawsuit; it’s in a courtroom,” Brantley said.

Mathis, representing eight defendants, called the lawsuit frivolous. He said it did not address the issue in the case and said Quarterman has offered no evidence in support of it.

In his rebuttal, Quarterman noted that every lawsuit he has filed has gone before the court, with two of them going to the state Supreme Court. He currently has a November 2008 election suit pending in Supreme Court.

Quarterman has filed 14 lawsuits since 2002, according to Mathis, who questioned whether Thursday’s lawsuit should be heard at all.

During the contempt proceedings, Quarterman denied that he knowingly defied Emerson’s order and countered that his bankruptcy filing earlier this year wiped out attorney fees Emerson ordered him to pay.

“I did not knowingly go against the order,” Quarterman said. “I paid to have a bankruptcy filed, and I do not owe anyone in Douglas County government a dime.”

He asked for a one-day continuance until he could get certified copy of the Bankruptcy Court documents.

Quarterman also noted that the fact the lawsuit made it to court Thursday meant that Judge Emerson had seen and approved it.

“I would challenge Mr. Mathis to produce something from the court saying I violated its orders,” Quarterman said. “If he can produce a certified copy from the court right now, I’ll go to jail.”

At the end of the day, Brantley spoke to Quarterman about representing himself in court.

“You may or may not have had a chance (with this lawsuit), but if you’d had competent counsel, maybe things would be different,” he said.

An attempt by the Sentinel to contact Quarterman for comment was unsuccessful late yesterday afternoon.