Multiple people are facing “ejectment” from their residences on Hankins Middle School property, as the Mobile County Public School System is seeking to reclaim its land. 

The Mobile County Board of Education filed a lawsuit Thursday in Mobile County Circuit Court seeking the immediate removal of a number of “squatters” living in a trailer, dilapidated house, sheds and other various structures on Katherine Hankins Drive in Theodore, adjacent to the middle school.

One resident told Lagniappe he has lived on the property for years under a gentleman's agreement with the school district, though he'd be happy to move if the school district can help him financially.

According to the lawsuit, the individuals have been living on the school land for “some time” without permission from the school district and are refusing to leave.

In Alabama, ejectment is a lawsuit brought to remove a party who is occupying the property and differs from an eviction process, which is brought against non-paying or undesirable tenants. 

“The defendants, to say the least, are not model squatters,” the suit states, and the board alleges that suspicious and disruptive behavior is commonplace and has led to multiple complaints by school parents.

The complaint alleges the individuals, who are solely identified as Rodney Lott, Barry Yonker and “fictitious defendants A-Z,” have unknown guests throughout the day who arrive and depart by vehicle and on foot. Hankins Middle staff members have reportedly observed these individuals and their visitors drunk throughout the day, including during school hours.

A school resource officer assigned to Hankins Middle School has reported having seen one individual vomiting in the morning while students were present.

Other suspicious activities are common as well, and the “squatters” have been seen engaging in some kind of sales transactions throughout the day. Other times the residents have erected signs and banners advertising car washes on the property.

“It is obviously inappropriate, illegal and unsafe,” the suit reads.

It is also reportedly unsanitary.

According to the board’s lawsuit, the “squatters” have installed a septic tank on the property that is leaking and the trailer appears to be allowing septic waste to drain directly on the ground, and the odor is “easily detectable” from Katherine Hankins Drive.

This isn’t the first legal run-in with the individuals, either.

According to court documents, the board of education sought to evict the individuals from the property in August but failed. The defendants, represented by attorneys Harry Satterwhite and Ishmael Jaffree, prevailed in the case in Mobile County District Court by arguing their clients could not be evicted because they did not have a lease agreement to live there and that the only proper action would be to eject them.

The school board, which is being represented by Michael Linder with The Atchison Firm, is now seeking that very action.

Linder told Lagniappe the ejectment process requires the public school system to get pre-approval from the state attorney general’s office before bringing the suit. He said that approval has been granted and the State of Alabama is a party to the litigation, though the school board bears the responsibility to litigate the case.

The school board is seeking a preliminary injunction requiring the defendants to vacate the property immediately. They are also seeking monetary compensation for waste and damage to the land.

Attorneys for the defendants were not yet retained on Friday.

Defendant Rodney Lott, 70, told Lagniappe he has been a resident on the property for several years with Barry Yonkers, 66, and a third individual.

According to Lott, until recently he’s been renting his trailer from a landlord. He claimed the landlord had a handshake agreement with the school board 20 years ago to lease the land from them. However, Lott said the landlord is no longer in the picture.

“It’s okay, we’ll just go to court again,” Lott said.

Lott said the property is a cut-through to Theodore Dawes Road and many homeless people use it as a shortcut. He also said there is a close community in the area and they have a lot of friends.

Asked about the drunkenness, Lott said that exclusively involves Yonkers. He said Yonkers attacked him Thursday night with a baseball bat and he called the police who later arrested him. Yonkers currently is being held in Mobile Metro Jail on a $1,000 bond, charged with third-degree domestic violence harassment.

Lott denied operating a car wash on the property. He said he found car wash signs at an old gas station and put them up for fun. He said he would take the signs down. He also acknowledged there is a sewer issue on the property and waste has been draining on the ground.

“I know I’ll be evicted eventually, but moving is expensive. I’m 70 years old and on social security,” he said. “If they’ll help me, I’ll move out.”

Lott said he believes it will cost him $1,000 to move his trailer, and said if the school district were to cover those costs he could be moved in two to three weeks.

Email Scott Johnson at scott@lagniappemobile.com

Reporting on crime, public safety, courts & Mobile County — Scott Johnson, 30, has spent the better half of the decade reporting Alabama news. In the Northwest corner of the state, Johnson jumped head-first into journalism covering rural Alabama municipalities and local government for Marion County’s weekly, the Journal Record. Johnson was quickly promoted in the organization and was serving as general manager when he moved to Mobile in 2021 to report for Lagniappe.

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