Nov 7, 2014 2 min read

CARMICHAELS – Parents should beware if they repeatedly ignore the state’s compulsory attendance law, and their children attend school in Carmichaels Area School District, they may may find themselves behind bars.

A Nemacolin woman is currently in Greene County jail, sentenced to 100 days after she failed to pay fines for not sending her children to school.

Billie Jo Daniels, 34, of 24 Grant St., was found guilty of 20 counts of violating the attendance law during a summary trial Aug. 20 before Greene County Magisterial District Judge Lee Watson.

According to court documents, Daniels is now serving the maximum sentence allowable under the law of five days in jail per count and a $300 fine for each one.

This was not the first time Daniels appeared before Watson for not sending her children to school.

In February, he found her guilty on 13 counts of truancy from 2012 and 2013. Watson sentenced her in those cases to a total of five days in jail, plus fines. However, Daniels did not go to jail. Instead, a stay requested by Daniels’ attorney, Harry Cancelmi, was granted by Greene County Court so arguments could be heard.

In the current case, Daniels had 30 days to appeal her 100-day sentence but she did not, nor did she she contact the court to set up a payment plan, according to court records. When she did not, a warrant was issued for her arrest and she was placed in the county jail Oct. 20 to begin her sentence.