Daughter’s truancy leads to jail for mother

Tuesday, Nov. 23, 1999 | 10:35 a.m.

Mari Jo Bailey was found guilty on Monday in Nevada's first prosecution of a 1997 law that makes parents criminally liable for their children's unexcused absences.

Sheriff's deputies arrested Bailey after Eagle Valley Middle School Vice Principal Fred Perdomo declared her daughter, then 13, a habitual truant.

In addition to the jail time, Bailey was given 28 days suspended, which she would have to serve should she break the conditions of her probation.

On the stand, Bailey said that at the time of the absences in question, she worked a 12-hour graveyard shift with a local taxi company.

Her daughter testified that her absences were against her mother's consent. She said her mother would drop her off at school, she would walk in, and then walk out.

The woman's attorney says his client plans to appeal.

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