The county was served with a dispossessory notice this morning for a building the county has overpaid the lease on for five years.
The building houses the Juvenile Justice Department and is located at the corner of Jefferson and Pine Streets.
The service of a dispossessory notice is a step in the eviction process.
The building’s owners, Stanley and Betty Brown, filed an affidavit with the Magistrate Court on Monday. The affidavit states the county owes the Browns rent of $3,860.49.
County Finance Director Joanna Wright has previously said she stopped paying the lease in April pending resolution of the overpayment of $240 per month.
Wright has said she doesn’t know how the mistake in lease payment amounts began in 2008.
At this afternoon’s commission meeting, commissioners said they would discuss the item in closed session, citing pending litigation as an exception to the open meeting laws.
Effingham County Interim County Administrator Toss Allen said that Brown is asking for a new lease and the back rent.
In a letter to the Magistrate Court, Stan Brown said he hoped to get an answer as the direction commissioners would take and would wait to hear their action before dismissing the claim or “allow it to run its course.”
The notice gives the county seven days to respond to the affidavit.
The county has leased the building since 2001.