JENKINSVILLE – Jenkinsville’s effort to challenge the results of a recent annexation vote (see related story on page 6) included subpoenaing a journalist with The Voice.
An attorney for the Town of Jenkinsville issued the subpoena, which sought to compel testimony from reporter Michael Smith at an election protest hearing Monday in Winnsboro.
The subpoena never specified what sort of testimony the town was seeking.
Smith, though, was never called to testify Monday, and the Fairfield County Election Commission voted 5-0 to toss the election protest.
The Voice stood ready to challenge the subpoena, however.
Jay Bender, an attorney representing the newspaper, was present for Monday’s hearing and had planned to file a motion to quash the subpoena. That step became unnecessary when Smith wasn’t called to testify.
Smith was the author of several stories in The Voice about Jenkinsville’s failed effort to annex 143 properties.
If successful, the annexation would have virtually quadrupled the town’s geographical boundaries and increase its tax base by a factor of five.