A well-known Laurel pastor may have passed the plate to his mother too many times, and now she’s taking him to court to collect.
James H. Johnson-Hill, who founded and now preaches at Agape Church in downtown Laurel, has not repaid more than a quarter-million dollars he obtained from Idella M. Hill’s Living Revocable Trust between Aug. 28, 2009 and Nov. 7, 2011, according to a complaint filed by her in the Jones County Chancery Court.
A lawsuit represents only one side of a legal argument.
But it may have cost Johnson-Hill an appointment to the board of the Jones County Economic Development Authority. At the July 7 Laurel City Council meeting, his name was on the meeting’s agenda to be nominated, but that item was crossed off the agenda at Mayor Johnny Magee’s request without explanation. Sources said that at least one council member threatened to expose the lawsuit if Johnson-Hill was nominated for the position. Whitney Pickering was nominated and unanimously approved for the EDA board position at Tuesday’s meeting.
In January, Johnson-Hill was nominated to serve on the city school board, but the council voted against his appointment after it was noted that his wife wrote a Letter to the Editor to the Leader-Call saying that city officials and residents shouldn’t be made to feel obligated to purchase state championship rings for the Laurel High School football team.
“We’ve got to have people on the school board that support the children,” Faye Jackson said before the council voted.
His wife Anicia is over the children’s ministry at the church and she is a part-time public relations director for the city. The couple have four children.
Johnson-Hill’s mother alleges that her son has failed to pay her any proceeds from rental property that he purchased with some of the money in both of their names and she said that he has never been paid for the house he lives in on Stonesthrow Road in North Laurel. Her complaint also claims that he took a $1,500 disbursement from an account of hers each month from Nov. 15, 2011 to Dec. 15, 2012, for another $19,500.
In all, she’s claiming that her son owes her at least $259,955.15, but there could be even more, according to the complaint, which was filed by attorney Craig Panter of Madison. The complaint also says that Rev. Hill “has never denied obtaining the money, and he had acknowledged his obligation to repay it,” but he “has not repaid the money.”
The complaint claims that Rev. Johnson-Hill got $80,294.72 from his mother on Aug. 28, 2009, then $125,309.51 on Sept. 9, 2009 and $34,850.92 on Nov. 7, 2011 — a total of $240,455.15. She was living with him and his wife in Laurel at the time, and he had power-of-attorney.
Some of the money was used to purchase land on Wadsworth Road in Ellisville and mobile homes that are on the property and rented to tenants, according to the complaint, but none of the money that he has received has been paid to her. Land records show that her name is on the title and she has paid “more than her share” of the property taxes on it, according to the complaint. No estimate on the amount that has been collected was included because Rev. Johnson-Hill “has refused” to provide any information, according to the complaint.
Rev. Johnson-Hill “has collected money due to Plaintiffs but has failed to pay it over, even though he is legally obligated to do so,” according to the complaint, saying that his conduct “constitutes a breach of fiduciary duty owed to his mother.” She asks for a judgment for the full amount plus 8 percent interest.
Mrs. Hill asked the court to impose a lien on all the property that her son acquired with her money.
Mrs. Hill now lives in Mis- souri and Shaun L. Johnson of California has power of attorney over her trust.
Rev. Johnson-Hill and his wife Anicia are both from California and came to Jones County to establish Agape Church in downtown Laurel 2010. The church was constructed in the old Bill’s Dollar Store at the round-about and was considered the crown jewel of downtown revitalization efforts.
Hill did not respond to requests for comment.
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