JUDGE STEPS ASIDE IN DECIDING WHETHER TO REVOKE BOND OF FORMER URINE SELLER

A new judge will hear the bond revocation hearing for a Marietta man found
guilty in December of selling urine to defraud a drug test.

Kenneth E. Curtis, owner of Privacy Protection Services, was sentenced to
six years in prison followed by five years probation and a $10,000 fine in
December. He has not served any time in jail while he appeals his criminal
conviction.

He has been out on a $30,000 bond.

On Friday, he was in court for a possible bond revocation hearing, but
Circuit Judge John Few recused himself from the case, citing the fact he
had sent an e-mail to an assistant solicitor in the case without sending
one to the defense.

The details of the e-mail were not made public, but Few said it came after
reading an article in The Greenville News about Curits losing his appeal to
the U.S. Supreme Court in March.

Few said he should have notified both sides of the e-mail sooner.

Curtis, who's case has made national news shows and magazines, said
afterward that he believed the judge made the proper decision. He also said
he is running for Lt. Governor of South Carolina as the Libertarian candidate.

One of the Republican candidates is state Sen. David Thomas,
R-Fountain-Inn, who has clashed with Curtis on national television in the
past. Thomas was the person who pushed the creation of the law that banned
selling urine to defraud drug testing.