by Dan Jordan, Clerk of Courts

I am pleased to announce that Governor Nathan Deal has signed Senate Bill 125 into law. This is local legislation that Senator Johnny Grant introduced for the magistrate court during the most recent legislative session. The bill simply formalizes the position of Clerk of Superior Court as the Clerk of Magistrate Court.

The magistrate court has always been of special interest to me and I have played a part in it almost since it was created in 1985. I was the first deputy clerk of the Jasper County magistrate court and was also the first associate magistrate judge of the court.

The Georgia constitution and state law gives each county the option of setting up the magistrate court in the way that best suits that particular county. Our magistrate court has been set up as a mirror image of the superior court which most legal experts agree is a court that works very well.

As with superior court, the clerk’s office is on the main floor and the judges offices are on the second floor. Ideally a judge should not be his or her own clerk. A judge should be neutral and detached from the cases that come before him or her. A judge who acts as his or her own clerk is likely to participate in ex parte communications which are a violation of the judicial canons of conduct.

In 1997 I supported local legislation sponsored by State Senator Floyd Griffin which would make the position of Chief Magistrate an elected position. Previously the Chief Magistrate had been elected by a majority vote of the superior court judges of our circuit.
After a vacancy on the magistrate bench occurred later that same year various court officials determined that it would be beneficial for Jasper county to have an attorney in the position of Chief Magistrate.

The civil jurisdiction of the court had gone up to $15,000 and Jasper County had recently implemented various ordinances which the magistrate court was responsible for enforcing.

Ken Jackson, an attorney and a part time juvenile court prosecutor at the time, was willing to take on this responsibility as long as he was assured that he could continue his juvenile court work. The commissioners and the superior court judges agreed to this as long as he averaged a 40 hour work week as Chief Magistrate.

This arrangement was formalized in 2008 when the commissioners agreed by consent order to pay Judge Jackson a full time salary as long as he certified his time. Judge Walter McMillan approved this arrangement. Judge McMillan is the former administrative judge for the Eighth Judicial District of Georgia.

In my opinion, the best thing about the implementation of SB 125 is that our current clerk/magistrate system will remain in place long after Judge Jackson and I have left the scene. While we will both be running for reelection next year, we will retire one day and someone else will hold each of our offices. This legislation protects the interests of Jasper county for years to come.
It will also save our county a significant amount of money in the long run. If the magistrate court had a separate clerk’s office at least two full time deputy clerks would be required, more office and records storage space would be necessary and computers, software and other equipment and furnishings would have to be purchased by the county.

Currently all of the clerk’s office computer equipment is provided by the Superior Court Clerk’s Cooperative Authority. This equipment is only available to Superior Court Clerks. A central clerk’s office also creates less confusion for the public. Citizens can do their business with the superior, juvenile and magistrate in one location. We call it “one stop shopping.”

In addition to Senator Grant, I would like to extend a special thanks to State Representative Susan Holmes for making sure that this bill passed the House of Representatives and for her help in being a liaison with the Governor’s office regarding their questions and concerns with this legislation.