Cherokee County's former Department of Social Services director pleaded guilty to felony obstruction of justice at the end of October. The charge focuses on Cindy Palmer's use of an illegal custody agreement which could have unlawfully removed as many as 50 children from their homes in the county. Carolina Public Press' lead investigative reporter Kate Martin has been covering the trails of those families for two years and spoke with BPR's Lilly Knoepp about ongoing litigation. Lilly Knoepp: This case has revolved around a DSS policy using a custody and visitation agreement to remove children from their parents without court oversight is how you explain it. Can you please explain the policy a little bit for our listeners before we get into the recent updates in the current federal civil case? Kate Martin: Absolutely. So what I'm about to say is outlined in some court documents and also was in testimony during a May civil trial. Basically, what would happen is social services when they