Police: Woman faked community service notes to beat fines

Nov. 26--CENTERVILLE -- Not having auto insurance is bad enough, but when a woman lied to the court about doing community service to pay off a hefty fine, that landed her in real hot water, police said.

Assistant Police Chief Paul Child said Kortnie Ann Burningham's troubles began in 2011 when she was cited by a Centerville police officer for operating a vehicle without insurance, a class B misdemeanor.

She had promised in May 2012 to Justice Court Judge David Miller she would pay a $930 fine he ordered.

Two weeks before she was cited in Centerville, she received a traffic citation in North Salt Lake for the same thing, according to the court website. She had also agreed to pay a fine of $560 to the North Salt Lake Justice Court. Miller also presides over that court.

Child said the woman was unable to pay the fines, so the judge allowed Burningham to do community service in exchange for the fines. For every hour of community service Burningham completed, she received $5 off her fines.

Child said Burningham brought a letter in February of this year from an elementary school signed by a teacher stating she had completed 12 hours of community service.

More letters on letterhead from the school signed by the teacher were brought to the courts. In Centerville, the notes added up to 166 hours of community service that had been completed, or $830 off Burningham's $930 fine, Child said.

But then a clerk noticed the signatures.

"The signatures did not match the first note that was signed," Child said.

Police from both agencies were called in and Burningham was charged in North Salt Lake Justice Court with five counts of providing false or misleading information and was charged in Centerville Justice Court with three counts of providing false or misleading information. All the charges are class B misdemeanors.

She was booked and released from the Davis County Jail last Thursday.

According to the court website, Burningham entered guilty pleas to the original charges in Centerville on Oct. 31. A sentencing hearing is set for Jan. 23.

According to the court website, the case in North Salt Lake is still pending.

Contact reporter Loretta Park at 801-625-4252 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @LorettaParkSE.

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