MACON, Ga. — You've heard about the Bibb County Sheriff's deputy shortage causing slow response times, but it's creating another problem.
Temporary protective orders, designed to shelter victims from their abusers, are not getting served. At one point this year, up to 40% of those orders never got delivered, leaving victims' lives on the line.
A temporary protective order, or 'TPO' is a document designed to help a domestic violence victim get away from their abuser. It usually includes a restraining order, but in two cases we found, the process didn't work. The failures could have contributed to one woman's murder. Another woman now lives constantly on guard. We've agreed not to identify her because she's a victim with court dates still on the calendar.
LaSmockie Fountain's family remembers her as their 'treasure.'
"Lovely person. Very beautiful. A great mother. And she absolutely loved to dance," said her aunt Sharon Stafford in 2020.
Fountain died in 2015 after her ex-boyfriend shot her in a domestic dispute. For years, her family has maintained that the Bibb Sheriff's Office didn't do enough to keep her safe. Derrick Booze had several arrest warrants at the time, and court documents show another problem: an unserved temporary protective order filed almost a year before Fountain's death.
Seven years later, Dee Simms with Crisis Line and Safe House of Central Georgia says that problem persists. Earlier this year: "Over 40% of TPOs that were being dismissed. Not for lack of merit and not that the petitioner didn't need the TPO, but for lack of service," Simms said.
That means there was either no deputy available to serve the protective order, or the deputy trying to serve it couldn't locate the alleged abuser.
"You'd be surprised how wise some respondents get to the whole process, and they evade service," Simms said.
That's what happened to Fountain, and to another Bibb County woman who says she's trying to leave an abusive relationship.
"Law enforcement deficit has made my personal situation a lot more difficult," she said.
Bibb Superior Court documents show that on October 15, 2021, Judge David Mincey ordered the sheriff's office to serve a temporary protective order to the woman's ex. Several days went by with no service. Her fear building, she took matters into her own hands.
"I had to drive to a neighboring county and pay their civil process -- their service process fees -- and have a neighboring county deliver the documents to where they needed to go," she said.
Court records show a Monroe County deputy served the documents to her ex October 27. Bibb County submitted a form saying they could not find the man after a 'diligent search.'
The woman says she believes it's the result of the deputy shortage, and a workload piling up.
"I think for having a lack of a number of deputies means that you have more of a workload on each individual deputy," the woman said.
After a year, her order expired. Now, she lives with a new reality.
"You have to make sure that all of your surveillance cameras are operational. You know, you put up fencing. Lock the doors. Multiple locks on every exterior door. Barring the doors," she said. "You're concerned that if you did call and ask for help from the people who are supposed to be able to help you, that they may not be able to make it there in time."
Sheriff David Davis acknowledged to county commissioners that they still have problems serving orders. Six of Macon's homicide victims this year died in domestic violence situations.
"Deputy shortage plays a role in it," Davis said, "Just whenever you have so many temporary protective orders."
He's presented a possible solution: grant-funded training for deputies with the Crisis Line and Safe House. It will include service of temporary protective orders.
"It is so very important that these -- that service be perfected," Simms said.
Simms says things are getting better. Crisis Line now hires off-duty deputies to serve TPOs outside normal business hours. That means fewer going unserved.
"The percentage has dropped into the low teens," Simms said. That's in just one year.
Fountain's family can't turn back the clock, and Simms acknowledges that while improving service doesn't erase the pain victims and their families have suffered, she hopes it may help others avoid it in the future.
If you or someone you love is experiencing domestic violence, help is within reach. Crisis Line and Safe House of Central Georgia has a 24/7 hotline at (478) 745-9292. They have legal services to help with temporary protective orders, a confidential shelter and a counseling center.