BLYTHEWOOD – The Town of Blythewood has purchased the law office of former Blythewood Attorney Shannon Burnett for $800,000. The 3-bedroom, 1,636 square-foot former residential property, now zoned commercial, sits on a one-acre lot.
Burnett purchased the residence five years ago in March, 2020 for $255,000, and transferred it to her law firm under the office’s address, 193 Langford LLC, seven months later.
According to the Richland County Assessor’s Office, the total market value of the property in 2024 was $494,700, and the total taxable value was $293,200.
Councilman Donald Brock told The Voice that no realtor was involved with the sale and that the town negotiated the purchase without seeking an appraisal and bought it in an ‘as is’ condition. According to Brock, the house was not on the market when the Town decided to purchase it approximately three weeks ago.
Brock said the negotiations were handled entirely by Councilman Rich McKenrick and the town attorney Pete Balthazar.
The purchase price includes the payoff of a mortgage balance of $176,217.41 on the property. In addition, the Town paid $2,954.41 in closing costs. Burnett’s LLC paid $3,285.00 in closing costs.
Council has not yet made public any information about the purchase, but mentioned during the April 10 special called budget workshop that the Town would need to purchase a refrigerator and other furnishings for the building.
According to the purchase agreement and settlement statement that The Voice obtained through a Freedom of Information request, the Town did not require an inspection of the building nor any due diligence. Council also waived its ability to acquire any and all required licenses and permits, including for water and sewer service, from the appropriate authorities.
The property is served by a septic tank and water well, according to the Richland County Assessor’s online property information.
Council called a special meeting on March 28 for the purpose of holding an executive session to discuss the purchase of an undisclosed property, but the agenda item included a reference to Doko Park. Another special called meeting for the same purpose was held at noon on April 1. The contract was signed April 7 and the sale was closed April 10 by the town attorney’s law firm, Riley, Pope, and Laney, LLC, of Columbia.
The town has purchased four properties adjacent to the park in the last three years: a .60 acre parcel for $72,500; a 36-acre parcel for $2.7 million; a 4.58-acre parcel for $250,000.
Brock said the Town plans to use the former law office to house its public works department and will use the garage on the property for storage.
Burnett, a long-time family court attorney in Blythewood, was hired by the Town in October, 2020 to be the Town’s municipal attorney. She resigned just short of a year later.
Burnett spent much of her time as the Town’s municipal attorney involved in contract negotiations with MPA Strategies and its CEO Ashley Hunter. As contract negotiations bogged down Hunter filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Town on June 20, 2021, naming then-Mayor Bryan Franklin.
On July 20 of that year, the Town filed a counter suit against MPA Strategies. Burnett, along with then-Town Administrator Carroll Williamson and Franklin, signed affidavits attesting that the matters stated in that counter suit were, on information and belief, true.
Burnett resigned as the Town’s municipal attorney two months later, but was subsequently retained by the Town to help with the MPA lawsuits – the FOIA lawsuit against the Town, a countersuit by the Town against MPA, as well as a defamation lawsuit filed by MPA against the Town and Franklin.
Burnett’s law firm, which the Town paid $238,753.75 for the MPA legal matters, was terminated by the Town’s newly elected mayor, Sloan Griffin, on Dec. 6, 2023.
All three MPA Strategies lawsuits were subsequently settled in MPA Strategies’ favor.
According to Town officials, Burnett moved away last year and had closed her office in Blythewood when the Town purchased her Blythewood office.
