By this time next week, a lucrative loophole used by some retired judges to obtain substantial salary supplements closes.
On Aug. 1, Georgia's Superior Court judges will be held accountable for how and when they want to bring in one of their retired judicial brothers - known as senior judges - to preside in court. And from then on, each judicial circuit will have to justify the extra expenses for judicial substitutes.
In the wake of a 2004 investigative report in The Augusta Chronicle, state political leaders and the Superior Court judges were spurred to change how and when senior judges return for duty. In the past, judges functioned on an honor system that left it to sitting judges to decide when and how often to bring in the senior judges at taxpayers' expense. The old system also assumed senior judges' expense statements were accurate and didn't require a detailed accounting of work performed.
Starting Aug. 1, before a senior judge can be considered as a replacement, a sitting judge must first ask another active judge in his judicial circuit for help. If that doesn't solve the need, then the sitting judge is to seek help from an active judge in an adjoining circuit or in the same administrative district. If that also fails to solve the problem, then a sitting judge may ask for the assistance of a senior judge.
The new rules, which have been in development since last winter, also change who makes the final decision about bringing in a senior judge. The request for a senior judge's services will now need the approval not only of the circuit's chief judge but also of the administrative judge. The Augusta circuit is in the 10th administrative district, composed of six circuits stretching from Newton through Screven counties. Judge John M. Ott of the of the Alcovy Circuit is the administrative judge for the 10th District.
The administrative judge will also be responsible for tracking each judicial circuit's use of senior judges and why there was a need. A new Council of Superior Court Judges' committee will analyze the use of senior judges throughout the state to ensure proper management of state funds.
More changes will be required from the senior judges, too. No longer can senior judges collect $128 per diem for working outside their home county, whether across the state or next door. Now they are reimbursed only for actual expenses incurred when working away from home.
In addition, senior judges can no longer expect compensation for days not actually worked or payment for a full day when only minutes or a few hours are spent on court business.
The use of senior judges became a stateside issue in December when The Chronicle revealed that in a time of financial hardship, Georgia taxpayers paid millions of dollars extra for judicial services with little or no oversight. Not only have Georgia taxpayers shelled out 200 percent more than taxpayers in similar sized states for the same service, the investigation pointed out there was rarely a correlation between the amount of time senior judges work in various judicial circuits and the judicial workload in those circuits.
For example, in the Augusta Judicial Circuit, Senior Judge Bernard J. Mulherin Sr. had been able to nearly double the salary he previously earned as a full-time judge, in part by continuing to work after retirement as a senior judge.
Nearly all of Senior Judge Mulherin's time has been spent in the Augusta Judicial Circuit, which ranked 38th in judicial caseloads. The Augusta circuit used senior judges' services more often than any of the 10 judicial circuits with the state's heaviest judicial caseloads.
Since The Chronicle's report, the use of senior judges is down in the state, according to a sampling of senior judges' expense statements from January through June.
In 2004, Senior Judge Mulherin was paid $50,722 in that time span. In the first six months of this year, he and the circuit's newest senior judge, Albert M. Pickett Jr., have been paid a combined $26,597.
Two other senior judges have been paid more so far in 2005. However, both of those senior judges - L.A. McConnell Jr. of Houston County and Tracy Moulton Jr. of Early County - have been asked to help in judicial circuits statewide. Judge Mulherin and Judge Pickett, however, have gone outside the Augusta Circuit only five times in their combined 60 days of service.
The public will also have ready access to information about how much senior judges are costing taxpayers, for what reasons, and which sitting judges are requesting extra help with their work.
The new rules require senior judges to list that information on their monthly expense statements submitted to the state's auditors. That information is open for public inspection.
Reach Sandy Hodson at (706) 823-3226 or sandy.hodson@augustachronicle.com.
NEW RULES FOR SENIOR JUDGES
- Before seeking a senior judge's assistance, sitting judges are to first ask all other sitting judges in the circuit and in nearby circuits.
- A request for a senior judge must also be approved by one of the state's 10 administrative judges.
- Requests for a senior judge's help must be specific to exact duties and length of service expected and why a sitting judge cannot complete the work himself.
- The information will be examined by the judicial counsel's specially appointed committee to oversee the use of senior judges.
Previous Stories
• Seminar to focus on senior judges• Use of retirees is meant to save money
• Senior judges subvert will of voters, some say
• How caseloads determine judgeships
• Mulherin's expenses don't match records
Editorials
• Oversight welcome
• A case in point
• Article unfairly smeared an outstanding judge
Letters
• Smear by any name is still a smear
• Article attacks fine judge
• Mulherin spreads only good
• Post-retirement work is common
• Judge synonymous with integrity
• Judge's character is sterling
