Local News

Education is expensive but not sending a kid to school on a regular basis can cost a whole lot more.

One Lawrenceburg mom is finding that out the hard way after being dragged into Anderson County District Court.

The woman’s four children racked up 95 absences this year — 41 of them unexcused — and she is facing a potential court fine of $4,100.

Yep, that’s $100 per unexcused absence, a penalty that skyrockets to $250 per day for a second offense and even 90 days in jail for a third.

Two Lawrenceburg residents have been indicted on charges that they physically abused two children, ages 2 and 4, according to records filed in Anderson County Circuit Court.

David Vance Hopkins, 40, and Lisa Anne Hopkins, 42, of 1017 David Drive, were charged March 24 on two counts each of first-degree criminal abuse of a child under the age of 12. The charges are Class C felonies, according to the files.

They are accused of abusing the children between June 1 and June 11, 2008, court records show.

Hiring personnel is not something the Anderson County school district takes lightly, said Assistant Superintendent Larry Basham.

Whether it’s a full-time teacher, substitute teacher, substitute custodian or substitute secretary, hiring of personnel is taken seriously, Basham said.

“We take it seriously when we add anybody to any list,” he said.

“But as with any school system, every once in a while you make a mistake. And when you make a mistake, you try to correct it.”

Ninety-nine percent of parking tickets in Lawrenceburg would never be written if city residents understood the city’s parking regulations, and Lawrenceburg Police Chief Tommy Burris is trying to spread the word.

The city’s parking regulations take up about three pages in “legalese,” Burris said. No one takes the time to sort through that, so Burris has narrowed down all residents need to know into four bullet points: