Graham Banks is howling mad over the more than $3,000 in tickets he received from the town of Kiawah Island because of an incident that began when his dog, Boo, was running on the beach.
He turned down a plea bargain offered by the town to settle the matter for $500. Instead, he will argue the case before a jury at a trial scheduled for Feb. 10 in municipal court. Banks received three tickets on Sept. 28. Each citation was written for $1,072.50.
"Part of the outrage is the amount of the fine that they're giving me. It's draconian. I can't look myself in the mirror if I put up with this," he said.
Banks said he is a poet, investor and day trader who lives in Branchville. His family has a home on the island. He said that he has never had a problem letting his mixed-breed Jack Russell terrier/Labrador retriever exercise off-leash at the island beach.
His name on a copy of the tickets is listed as "Fred Thompson," which he said is a reference to the former senator from Tennessee. "It was just a joke," Banks said. He signed the tickets as Graham Banks.
Town attorney Dennis Rhoad said he was not familiar with the specifics of what happened on the beach when Banks received the three tickets. Most of the time, someone violating the ordinance is just asked to put their dog on a leash, Rhoad said.
"For whatever reason, it didn't go down that way. Somehow it escalated," Rhoad said.
The case is a simple one based on the town ordinance governing the situation, he said.
"Was the dog on a leash? I don't think it's really that complicated," Rhoad said. "He might come up with some brilliant legal argument that I've overlooked."
If Banks accepts the proposed plea bargain, the town will drop charges that he disrupted the peace and failed to cooperate with the code enforcement officer, Rhoad said.
The town has tried to strike a balance between dog lovers and people who don't like canines roaming on the beach. "Kiawah is really a pretty friendly place," Rhoad said. "There aren't a whole lot of tickets being issued."
Banks said his argument before the jury will be presented like an essay about his experience that day. When he arrived at the beach, Banks said he saw a sign that said no dogs were allowed unless on a leash. However, he knew from experience that an unleashed dog is allowed on the beach in fall and winter if the dog is controlled with voice commands. The sign he saw did not have dates on it that specified when dogs on the beach had to be on a leash, he said.
"They did not make me aware of the law. It's totally confusing," he said, referring to the sign. "It was the off-season and you always have been able to walk your dog on the beach (without a leash) in the off-season."
Banks said that a code enforcement officer on an ATV shadowed him as he headed to his family's beach home. The officer pulled in front of Banks and stopped to talk about his unleashed dog. When Banks learned he was receiving a $1,000 ticket for violating the island leash law, he said that he challenged what was happening and refused to provide information the officer requested. As a result, he received two more tickets, he said.
On most of the island's beach, including where Banks was ticketed, dogs are allowed off-leash from Nov. 1 to March 15 if they can be controlled by voice command. Other times of the year, dogs must be on a leash, according to the town website.
Banks said his dog is trained to heel right beside him and otherwise responds well to voice commands.
"It was after the equinox and I thought it was fine to do it. The beach was deserted. There wasn't anybody on the beach," he said.
"Part of the outrage is the amount of the fine that they're giving me. It's draconian. I can't look myself in the mirror if I put up with this," he said.
Banks said he is a poet, investor and day trader who lives in Branchville. His family has a home on the island. He said that he has never had a problem letting his mixed-breed Jack Russell terrier/Labrador retriever exercise off-leash at the island beach.
His name on a copy of the tickets is listed as "Fred Thompson," which he said is a reference to the former senator from Tennessee. "It was just a joke," Banks said. He signed the tickets as Graham Banks.
Town attorney Dennis Rhoad said he was not familiar with the specifics of what happened on the beach when Banks received the three tickets. Most of the time, someone violating the ordinance is just asked to put their dog on a leash, Rhoad said.
"For whatever reason, it didn't go down that way. Somehow it escalated," Rhoad said.
The case is a simple one based on the town ordinance governing the situation, he said.
"Was the dog on a leash? I don't think it's really that complicated," Rhoad said. "He might come up with some brilliant legal argument that I've overlooked."
If Banks accepts the proposed plea bargain, the town will drop charges that he disrupted the peace and failed to cooperate with the code enforcement officer, Rhoad said.
The town has tried to strike a balance between dog lovers and people who don't like canines roaming on the beach. "Kiawah is really a pretty friendly place," Rhoad said. "There aren't a whole lot of tickets being issued."
Banks said his argument before the jury will be presented like an essay about his experience that day. When he arrived at the beach, Banks said he saw a sign that said no dogs were allowed unless on a leash. However, he knew from experience that an unleashed dog is allowed on the beach in fall and winter if the dog is controlled with voice commands. The sign he saw did not have dates on it that specified when dogs on the beach had to be on a leash, he said.
"They did not make me aware of the law. It's totally confusing," he said, referring to the sign. "It was the off-season and you always have been able to walk your dog on the beach (without a leash) in the off-season."
Banks said that a code enforcement officer on an ATV shadowed him as he headed to his family's beach home. The officer pulled in front of Banks and stopped to talk about his unleashed dog. When Banks learned he was receiving a $1,000 ticket for violating the island leash law, he said that he challenged what was happening and refused to provide information the officer requested. As a result, he received two more tickets, he said.
On most of the island's beach, including where Banks was ticketed, dogs are allowed off-leash from Nov. 1 to March 15 if they can be controlled by voice command. Other times of the year, dogs must be on a leash, according to the town website.
Banks said his dog is trained to heel right beside him and otherwise responds well to voice commands.
"It was after the equinox and I thought it was fine to do it. The beach was deserted. There wasn't anybody on the beach," he said.