AG’s office gets racist former campground owner to pay out jury verdict

Two families who were evicted from a Smith Mountain Lake campground in 2020 after the campground’s owner found out that one of the campers in their group is Black have finally collected on the $750,000 verdict awarded to them by a jury in 2025.

Attorney General Jay Jones did the heavy lifting to get the owner of the Lazy Cove Campground, Regina Turner, to pay up.

Turner was ordered by a jury in February 2025 to pay $200,000 in actual damages and $550,000 in punitive damages to Angela and Damien Smith and Amanda and Mike Mills, who had rented campers next to each other in April 2020.

Turner failed refused to pay the damages, refusing to comply with multiple court orders, leading the Office of the Attorney General to initiate auction proceedings for the property in order to obtain the funding for the court-ordered damages.

The 18-acre waterfront property on Smith Mountain Lake was foreclosed on and later sold for $1.045 million.

Each family received $417,287.67 – the original damages plus interest.

The OAG presented the families with the money on Wednesday.

Turner was also ordered last month to serve 30 days in jail for failing to comply with the orders.

“Every Virginian deserves access to safe and affordable housing, and they deserve to be treated fairly and with dignity. This case and the egregious discriminatory actions endured by the Mills and Smith families are heart wrenching and unacceptable,” Jones said, in a statement from his office.

“I am proud to bring much overdue and deserved relief, and I want to thank the public servants in both the Virginia Fair Housing Office and the Office of the Attorney General whose dedication and tenacity brought this precedent-setting conclusion into reality after six arduous years.”

“These successful outcomes underscore the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation’s commitment to enforcing fair housing protections and holding accountable those who engage in housing discrimination in Virginia,” said Liz Hayes, director of the Virginia Fair Housing Office.

“Most importantly, these cases demonstrate that individuals who experience discrimination can seek justice and meaningful remedies,” Hayes said. “The substantial awards secured for these families make clear that housing discrimination has serious consequences and that every Virginian deserves a fair and equal opportunity to access housing.”