Kovach ordered to appear before Berkeley County court Jan 4
Should former Berkeley County School District Communications Director Amy Kovach be held in contempt of court for actions that took place after she entered a guilty plea last August on two ethics charges? Did she violate her probation and contradict her sworn testimony when she filed a lawsuit in October?
Those are questions that will be under consideration in a Berkeley County Court on January 4, when Kovach has been ordered to appear before Judge Jeffrey Young to address new allegations in a petition filed by the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office on November 15.
The Order and Rule to Show Cause was issued in response to Kovach’s lawsuit against the Berkeley County School District, the Berkeley County Republican Party, attorney Josh Whitley, district staff member Karen Whitley, and former BCSD Board Members Terry Hardesty and Scott Marino. According to paperwork filed with the Court of General Sessions, Ninth Judicial Circuit, Kovach has been asked to “show cause” if she can as to why she should not be held in contempt of court based on statements she made to the court and “her subsequent actions relating to her guilty plea.”
Kovach plead guilty on August 28 to one count of common law misconduct in office and one count of using government resources to influence an election, a violation of the South Carolina Ethics Act. Both charges were related to her role in the Berkeley County School District’s “Yes 4 Schools” bond referendum campaign. After admitting to the crimes against her under oath (two forgery charges and one perjury charge were dismissed), Kovach was sentenced to a total of six years in prison on both counts, which was suspended to two years probation, and a $25,000 fine for the ethics violation.
On October 15, about six weeks after her conviction, Kovach filed suit against the Berkeley County School District, alleging breaches of the covenant of “good faith and fair dealing” and fiduciary duty, as well as gross negligence and misrepresentation. In the filing, Kovach alleges that the district wrongfully terminated her on September 8, after her conviction, and states that the district “was well advised of all details of her work related to the Yes 4 Schools campaign.
Additionally, Josh Whitley has requested a hearing that is scheduled for December 30 regarding his motions for sanctions in response to Kovach’s lawsuit.