WIRETAPPING COST VIDALIA INSURER THOUSANDS IN LEGAL FEES

Vidalia's insurance company not only paid $75,000 to settle a federal
lawsuit when top city officials wiretapped a GBI agent, but also shelled
out $43,726.83 in legal fees to represent the mayor, city manager and
police chief.

GBI Agent Vickey Horton Tapley accused the men of wiretapping her cordless
telephone calls in 1997 and using illegally obtained transcripts to get her
removed from criminal investigations in Vidalia.

One of her probes focused on allegations that the city manager was using
cocaine; another involved the suspicious death of a man the city manager
thought he chased away from the bedroom window of his daughter.

The Georgia 11th Circuit Court of Appeals held the officials had "qualified
immunity" and were not personally liable for their actions. All continue in
their same positions.

Vidalia officials and the Macon law firm that represented them at a rate of
$90 an hour declined to provide records of the legal fees sought under the
state's Open Records law. Mary M. Katz, an attorney with Chambless, Higdon
& Carson, ducked the records request by saying she was paid by Titan
Insurance Co. rather than the city.

Titan has been taken over by The St. Paul Companies of Minnesota. The firm
released the fees reluctantly after initially claiming they were subject to
attorney-client privilege.

The Vidalia's insurance company also made a settlement of $10,000 to GBI
supervisor Glynn Meeks, who was on the other end of Tapley's phone line
when the chief listened to their conversation. Meeks died of a heart attack
during the three-year court battle with Vidalia officials. His settlement
was collected by his widow.