Judge schedules a contempt hearing over the sheriff sales; the office backed out of the outside supervision it agreed to in August

Common Pleas Court Judge Paula Patrick ordered Sheriff Bilal to appear before her Thursday, October 29, to explain why she should not be held in contempt for failing to turn over financial records and otherwise comply with state rules and a previous consent order on the sheriff sales, The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Ryan W. Briggs and William Bender reported. Patrick issued the order October 16.

The hearing follows an August agreement under which Bilal’s staff accepted six months of outside supervision of the sales, and a September hearing at which a deputy undersheriff disclosed that an internal audit had turned up about $20 million in sale proceeds that had not been disbursed. The office backed out of the supervision deal, with its lawyer arguing the court lacked the authority to impose what it called “open-ended structural oversight.” On Tuesday, October 27, Jonathan Rardin, the attorney the city hired to represent Bilal, filed a new request for a protective order to keep her off the witness stand at Thursday’s hearing; Patrick had rejected a similar request from Rardin over the summer. The Inquirer did not report a ruling on the new motion as of its October 28 publication.

Daniel Bernheim, the lawyer for JSB Property Group, the real estate company whose March lawsuit prompted the court’s inquiry, said Wednesday: “While the sheriff advertises transparency, she demonstrates a policy of hide-and-seek. These materials should be readily available, so we can understand what money was held and to whom it was distributed.” A possible contempt penalty would require the sheriff’s office to pay for a forensic audit of the auctions, with the court selecting the auditor, according to Patrick’s order.