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On Tuesday, the fair board unanimously agreed that Kate Mills, 20, of Imlay City could keep her crown.

Last week, Mills, the 2003 Lapeer County 4-H queen, was cleared of allegations stemming from an April raid of her family's farm. Charges remain in place against her father, Claire Markham Mills, 46; mother, Ellen Kathleen Mills, 44; and brother, Andrew Markham Mills, 18.

During the raid, authorities removed a dead horse, seven dead lambs and three malnourished dogs, prosecutors have said.

A Lapeer County District Court judge noted that Kate Mills had been a full-time student at Michigan State University and was living in an East Lansing apartment when the allegations occurred.

"We were very relieved that the matter had been dismissed by the court," said L.C. Scramlin, general manager of the Oakland County Fair.

"We felt the court was the best to analyze what happened. They had all the information."

Scramlin noted that Mills did not attend the fair board meeting, but her parents did.

"They apologized to the board and for any embarrassment caused to the fair," he said. "They were very relieved about what had happened."

Kate Mills will take part in the Oakland County Fair festivities, which runs July 9-15 in Davisburg, and on July 10, she will crown a new queen to take her place, Scramlin said.

The remaining three members of her family will be in court June 28 for the continuation of a preliminary hearing.

The Mills family members are each charged with one four-year felony count of killing and torturing an animal as a result of a dead horse found during a raid on their farm. The three each face charges of 93-day misdemeanor cruelty to animals, and 90-day misdemeanor offenses of improper animal burial for not taking care of their deceased animals and having four improperly licensed dogs.

The family contends they did all they could for the horse, and the lambs were being held as directed by federal officials.

"That horse was under a vet's care," said Ellen Mills. "We were devastated when the horse died, but you can't save them all. I could have spent $10,000 on diagnostic tests, and the horse still would have died."

Ellen Mills said last month that she has paperwork from officials at the U.S. Department of Agriculture who told her not to bury the lambs.

"The USDA told us they would all have to be tested for scabies and have DNA testing to see which mother they came from," she said. "They were offered the letters, but they didn't want them. This whole thing could have been avoided."

County Press sister newspaper, The Oakland Press in Pontiac, was unsuccessful in its attempts to contact Kate Mills, but she has expressed her feelings about the cruelty charges on a Web site, www.care2.com, where she has posted a photo of herself riding a horse and included a list of her hobbies.

She cites as her reason for signing up for the environmentally friendly Web site as a way for "Meeting Friends, Support a Cause."

A woman named Gwen M. of Brandywine, Md., posted a news article that Mills had been charged with animal cruelty, prompting Mills to respond on May 31:

"You know before you make assumptions it really helps when you know the WHOLE story. I would love to show you all the paper work that proves that neither me or my family is guilty of these crimes. I am a vet student who is going to make a living by caring for and treating animals, now if I was going to be abusing my animals then why in the hell would I make a career out of treating them???

"Also they left over 30 animals on my property, now doesn't it seem a little interesting that I would only abuse these couple animals. Any animal that was questioned was under a vet's care, and the lambs were stillborn and under quarantine. Now if anyone has questions I would appreciate if you knew the facts before opening your mouth about things you don't even know about. So I will be getting my crown back and when I do, all the a--holes who did this will be going down and I will ruin their lives as they have mine."

On June 12, she wrote again:

"By the way just so you all know the charges were DROPPED!!! So the prosecution was mistaken and I would really appreciate apologies which I am sure you all are above, but it would be nice the things that people have been saying about me."

The final posting comes on June 13 from Gwen M., who apologizes: "Kate, I see that the charges were dropped, and I am sorry that you were subjected to false charges. I try not to judge anyone guilty but only report what I see. There are many cruel acts done to animals and someone must be their voice."