A Lawrence school board candidate served five days in jail for illegally detaining four juveniles involved in a 1996 school-yard fight with his children.

Parents of two of the Deerfield School students he detained also filed a civil lawsuit against Brent Garner, who is among 13 candidates for school board. That was dropped when the parents accepted a $15,000 settlement.

On Thursday, Garner said the legal troubles stemmed from a “measured” defense of his children after they were attacked by a group of students at Deerfield, 101 Lawrence Ave. The students, he said, chased his children home. Garner said he called Lawrence Police and went to the aid of his children.

“My children were assaulted by four thugs,” he said. “I confronted the attackers.”

Garner said the “left-of-center” Douglas County District Attorney’s Office charged him because he grabbed two of the boys by the wrists and ordered the other two boys to stay put until police arrived. He said he didn’t hit them.

His criminal record was expunged two years ago.

“It’s the only time in my life I’ve had anything worse than a traffic ticket,” Garner said.

He said his handling of the four boys should have been viewed as self-defense rather than criminal conduct.

“We need judges on the bench who look at the merits of the case and decide whether it should proceed,” Garner said.

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He said he entered a plea of no contest to four counts of unlawful restraint and served five days at the Jefferson County Jail in November 1996. Garner said he was sent to Oskaloosa, rather than the Douglas County Jail in Lawrence, after he said he received a death threat.

“A note arrived, obviously unsigned, in my mailbox implying I would be killed,” Garner said.

In 2001, Garner successfully applied to have his criminal record expunged, which meant the 1996 case file was sealed from public view.

Garner said he thought that would keep details of the 7-year-old incident from damaging his campaign for school board.

However, records related to the civil lawsuit remain open. Some documents in that file reference his criminal case. The civil file indicates Garner’s insurance company agreed in July 1997 to settle for $15,000 the lawsuit filed against Garner.

Court records indicate the settlement check went to Pam and Mark Smith, parents of Jason and Nathan Smith, who were among the boys restrained by Garner. At the time of the encounter with Garner, Jason was 8 and Nathan was 11.

The Smiths sought $120,612 in actual and punitive damages, claiming in their suit that Garner battered their boys and caused emotional trauma sufficient to require professional counseling.

Garner, a 47-year-old insurance agent, said the lawsuit was a frivolous action by the Smith family and their attorney, James Rumsey of Lawrence.

“My confidence in the judicial system in this county is very low,” Garner said.

The Smiths couldn’t be located Thursday. Rumsey didn’t return phone messages.

Asked if news about his former legal woes would alter his political plans, Garner said he might stop campaigning for school board. He said people would assume the worst about him.

Garner said the disclosure would hurt his family and damage his insurance business.

He claims the Deerfield students beat up one of his children more than once. Garner said he complained to district officials about violence against his children, but not enough was done by school staff to protect them.

“The district wants to sweep under the carpet some of the criminal misdeeds of some of its students,” he said.

The Journal-World checked criminal records in Douglas County District Court of all 13 candidates for school board. Records show another candidate, Samuel Gould, was arrested three times last year.