Comply or go to jail: Judge rules Julia Olson-Boseman is in contempt of court order

A Wake County judge ruled Julia Olson-Boseman, chair of New Hanover County's Board of Commissioners, is in contempt of court after failing to appear on Monday.

The ruling stems from allegations made by the North Carolina State Bar that Olson-Boseman, a former lawyer, had mismanaged client money while closing her Wilmington law practice.

The legal action started in March when a Wake County court issued a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order against Olson-Boseman to prevent her from handling client funds and directing her to hand over financial records to the bar. Olson-Boseman has failed to comply with that court order, according to the State Bar.

Olson-Boseman reportedly did not appear at court dates in Wake County on June 29 and on Monday. Instead, Olson-Boseman seems to be on vacation. A July 17 social media post from her wife Angie Olson-Boseman appears to show Olson-Boseman in Rome, Italy.

More: State Bar alleges commissioners chair mishandled client money. She says it's a witch hunt.

More: Julia Olson-Boseman is out. What does that mean for New Hanover's Board of Commissioners?

When she didn't appear, a judge ruled on Monday that Olson-Boseman was in contempt of court -- an action that's taken when a person is deemed capable of complying with a court order but fails to do so.

The Wake County judge sentenced Olson-Boseman to serve 90 days in a Wake County jail If she remains in contempt of court by not complying with the State Bar's request for financial records.

Video from the hearing shows Judge Norlan Grave issuing a warrant for the arrest of Olson-Boseman and sentencing her to serve her jail time on weekends, starting this Friday at 6 p.m. and running through Monday at 8 a.m.

The StarNews reached out to Olson-Boseman for comment on the contempt of court ruling but did not hear back before publication deadline. Previously, she had called the state bar's allegations a "witch hunt."

"I quit practicing law well over a year ago and (the State Bar) will not stop harassing me," she wrote in an email to the StarNews in March.

Olson-Boseman was first licensed to practice law in North Carolina in 1993. She is listed as an active lawyer in the State Bar's directory, even though she closed her law practice in January 2021. The State Bar is a state agency responsible for regulating the legal profession, and membership is mandatory for every licensed lawyer in North Carolina

Olson-Boseman is finishing out her second term on the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners where she's served as the board's chair for the past three years.

She previously served three terms in the North Carolina State Senate from 2004 to 2010, becoming the first openly gay member of the North Carolina General Assembly.

How did we get here?

The Bar's allegations center around a trust account Olson-Boseman opened in February 2019 with First Citizens Bank. She used the account to deposit and disburse funds from her clients, according to a court filing from the State Bar.

In May 2021, Olson-Boseman told the State Bar she had closed her law office in January. Still, "significant funds" remained in the trust account through the fall of 2021.

During an interview on Nov. 30, 2021, Olson-Boseman told a State Bar investigator that approximately $12,000 to $13,000 remained in the trust account after March 2021. That money, she said, was made up of medical payments that insurance companies owed to personal injury clients she represented, according to the filing.

Olson-Boseman told the State Bar she had given the remaining money to another lawyer who was taking over her personal injury cases, and said she was able to "perfectly attribute" the money to clients after reviewing documentation of the payments, the filing states.

But the State Bar alleges that claim was "knowingly false."

Instead, as Olson-Boseman closed her law practice, she discovered she couldn't determine which clients were supposed to get the at least $9,000 remaining in the trust account, according to the filing.

The State Bar alleges Olson-Boseman disbursed those funds to herself no later than November 8, 2021, and closed the trust account. The agency also alleges she didn't try to pay the remaining money to the new lawyer taking over her personal injury cases.

On Jan. 31, 2022, Olson-Boseman sent a letter to the State Bar through her attorney Amy Richardson to address some of the Bar's allegations.

The letter confirms that Olson-Boseman had initially misrepresented the amount of money remaining in the trust count, noting she "did not recall the fact or amount of unclaimed funds during her interview with the Bar, but later refreshed her recollection."

It also claims that Olson-Boseman tried to give the remaining money to Frank Pope, a lawyer who had taken over her personal injury cases, but he declined to accept it, saying he first needed to know who the funds belonged to.

The Bar alleges that any money Olson-Boseman tried to pay the new lawyer came from her personal accounts or other sources.

Olson-Boseman was first licensed to practice law in North Carolina in 1993. She is listed as an active lawyer in the State Bar's directory, even though she closed her law practice in January 2021.

The preliminary injunction request by the state bar in March prohibits Olson-Boseman from receiving or disbursing any money on behalf of clients and from withdrawing funds or writing checks from any accounts in which client funds have been deposited.

It also orders Olson-Boseman to give financial records and files relating to any account where client funds have been placed to the State Bar for further review.

Officials see legal woes as 'personal'

Despite the ruling, members of the board of commissioners say it won't impact county business.

“We’re viewing this as a personal matter for Commissioner Olson-Boseman,” according to Commissioner Rob Zapple. “We all hope that Julia will comply by the judge’s order.”

In the meantime, Zapple said he and his fellow commissioners would continue addressing the issues facing New Hanover County instead of getting caught up in news of the ruling, which he called a "distraction."

“We’re focused on the business of the county,” he said. "That's the job the citizens elected us to do."

In a statement, New Hanover County Democratic party chair Andre Brown wrote Olson-Boseman is now in "an untenable position by disregarding the law."

"I do not know what her rationale was for not showing up for court and defending herself, but she will now have to suffer the consequences for her misconduct," Brown wrote in a statement to the StarNews.

On a local level, the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners are governed by rules of procedure and a code of ethics, which the board adopted in April.

The rules of procedure state a member will remain the chair or vice-chair of the board "unless he or she becomes disqualified to serve as a board member."

The code of ethics outlines guidelines for "ethical standards of conduct" and states that members of the board are to "obey all laws that apply to their official actions."

"The spirit as well as the letter of the law should guide their actions," the code states.

Reporter Emma Dill can be reached at 910-343-2096 or edill@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Wilmington's Julia Olson-Boseman in contempt of court, judge rules