Community Corner

Roswell 'Chicken Man' Jailed

Andrew Wordes was taken into custody today for violating his probation.

Andrew Wordes, Roswell's "Chicken Man," was jailed until November this afternoon after appearing before Judge Maurice Hilliard at the Roswell Municipal Court to answer charges for .

The probation stemmed from two separate cases involving illegal grading on Wordes property during 2009 and his violation of a city ordinance that maintains how many inoperable vehicles residents are allowed to keep, according to Assistant City Attorney Bob Hulsey, who was not in court today.  

Wordes - who is known for raising chickens at his Roswell home - was sentenced to pay $1,000 for each violation, in lieu of up to one year of jail time, but the sentence was commuted to 180 hours of community service, which had not been completed by the April deadline, according to Hulsey. At today's probation revocation hearing Wordes "basically asked the court for mercy," said Hulsey. But his request was denied and he was remanded to jail to finish out his sentence.

Find out what's happening in Roswellwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Wordes had not completed his mandatory community service hours because of illness, although he was working with the city and had no intention of "shirking" his responsibilities, he recently told Roswell Patch. Wordes also said he had long been involved in local service projects and had only recently struggled to stay as active in the community due to an ongoing medical issue.

He told Roswell Patch that he believed his ongoing problems with the city were more about his chickens than his ordinance violations, but the city has disputed that claim.

Find out what's happening in Roswellwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Wordes returned to the Roswell court today, Aug. 10, instead of yesterday's original hearing date of Aug. 9 "because of conflicting court schedules for me," he recently commented on Roswell Patch. He is expected to be released on Nov. 17, according to Hulsey.

No word on who will be caring for Wordes' chickens while he is in jail. Check Roswell Patch for updates.


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