Fall 2001 • The Georgia Council of Municipal Court...

MUNICIPAL COURT

Judges BulletinFall 2001 • The Georgia Council of Municipal Court Judges Newsletter • Vol. 3, No. 4

Council of Municipal Court JudgesOfficers 2000 - 2001

PresidentJudge Henry E. Williams, Albany

President ElectJudge Vivian Haight Ernstes, Decatur

First Vice PresidentJudge Charles Barrett, III, Lilburn

SecretaryJudge William M. Coolidge III, Duluth

TreasurerJudge A. Frost Ward, Morrow

District Representatives

District OneJudge Martha Kirkland,

Judge Willie T. Yancey, II, Savannah

District TwoJudge John Kinsley Edwards, Jr., Valdosta

Judge William M. Shingler Sr., Donaldsonville

District ThreeJudge Pamela R. Greenway, Warner Robins

Judge David M. Pierce,

District FourJudge C. David Strickland, Covington, Porterdale

Judge James C. Watkins, Doraville

District FiveJudge Elaine Carlisle,

Judge Calvin S. Graves, Atlanta

District SixJudge John Clayton Davis,

Judge Robert W. Shuman, Sr., Greenville

District SevenJudge Rick Crawford, Rockmart

Judge Philip Taylor,

District EightJudge Tommy Bobbitt, III, DublinJudge Charles Merritt, Jr., Madison

District NineJudge Steven Leibel,

Judge Bertram Derr Waln, Norcross

District TenJudge John G. Cicala, Jr., Auburn

Judge Ethlyn Simpson, Athens-Clarke County

LegacyIt is with a sense ofprofound gratitudeand humility that thisJudge assumes thehelm as the newlyinstalled President of

the Georgia Council of MunicipalCourt Judges. I am grateful for thetrust that the membership expressedby nominating and voting me into theoffice. I am serving this office withhumility to have been given the privi-lege to follow the wealth of leader-ship of persons of the caliber ofMaurice Hilliard, who has alwaysexemplified the qualities of a greatleader since I met him in the moun-tains of Unicoi in 1988, whenMunicipal Judges were merely anadjunct of the Georgia MunicipalAssociation.

Legacy is defined by Webster’sNew World Dictionary, as anythinghanded down from a predecessor.That definition not only aptlydescribes the leadership of Maurice,but that of Tommy Bobbitt, RogerRozen, David Mecklin, (to whom Ioffer my apology for omitting his

name at our annual meeting inSavannah), Margaret Washburn (whohas done an outstanding job of coor-dinating the publication of thenewsletter), and Robert Whatley(whom I am thankful for his havingincluded me in every significant thinghe did as President to ensure a smoothtransition).

We have come a long way in ourevolution as Judges, and as an organi-zation. The Municipal JudgesAssociation was formed in 1988 fol-lowed by the legislative enactment ofthe Georgia Municipal Court TrainingCouncil in 1990, and the formation ofthe Council of Municipal CourtJudges in 1996. I express gratitude tothose who have given of their time inteaching courses and in offering serv-ice to further our cause such as FrostWard, who has done an outstandingjob as Vice President of ourAssociation, Treasurer of the TrainingCouncil for several years, our GeorgiaCouncil presently and as Liaison tothe Probation Advisory Council;Charles Barrett, who has championedour Legislative Liaison (commonly

President’s Corner

STRESSMaintaining a smile during the natural physical and mental response of thehuman body and mind created while stifling the normal, overwhelming, primalurge to choke the living daylights out of someone who richly deserves it.

continued on page 2

President’s Corner continued

Municipal Court Judges Bulletin Fall 2001— 2—

referred to as Judge of the DayProgram, who has extolled theassistance that was received fromJudges Leith and Greenway); BillCoolidge, who captures every wordspoken, it seems, as our copiousrecording Secretary; Leroy Burke(member of the Municipal CourtTraining Council and ExecutiveCommittee); and Viviane Ernstes(Executive Committee, TrainingCouncil, and now President-Elect ofthis Council); Bert Waln our SocialChair (and his predecessor CharlesSmith) and a host of other Judgeswho gave willingly of their time tofurther the cause of our organiza-tion; David Pierce, chairman of theNominating Committee; JudgePayne, who hosted the golf tourna-ment, Official Photographer; JohnCicala and Mike Cielenski whocoordinated efforts to publish forour benefit the original and revi-sions to the benchbook. We most ofall thank Marla Moore and hercapable staff for their quiet hand ofguidance and reassurance along

every step of the way. I look forward to continuing the

great legacy already established.Our number one goal is the contin-ued pursuit of membership on theJudicial Council by building uponthe foundation laid by JudgeMecklin, who led us in a proposalthat was made to add two represen-tatives from the Municipal Courtsand two additional representativesfrom the Superior Courts. Anamendment to form a committee tostudy the matter was also offered.The final vote was 9 in favor and 12opposed, with the other membersabstaining. We enjoyed the supportof all representatives of non-appel-late courts, with the singular excep-tion for Superior Court representa-tives, in voting for the proposal. AllSuperior Court representatives wereopposed. This is the first time therehas actually been a vote on a pro-posal to include the MunicipalCourts on the Judicial Council.

Judge Mecklin succeeded in get-ting a vote on the table for consider-

ation by the Judicial Council. Wewill seek an audience with everyaspect of the Bench and Bar tosolicit a groundswell of support forthis proposition. We will work toimprove our organization by solicit-ing and implementing suggestionsfrom our membership. I continue tourge input and inclusion of all ofour members and encourage eachmember of our organization to vol-unteer to serve and give us the ben-efit of your vision as to where weshould be headed as a body. Thoseof you who are currently active, Isolicit your continued work as wellas urge other members to becomeactive. We will be studying ourcommittees for review and revi-sions, as well as establishing newones. There will be ample opportu-nities for service in the days tocome, following the ExecutiveCommittees approval of these initia-tives at our next meeting. Let useach leave our respective legacies tothe future Judges of this greatorganization.

Jim Payne, Acworth, Ace Reporter

The 2nd Annual Council of Municipal Court Judges Golf Tournamentwas held at the Wilmington Island club on Sunday, July 8, 2001.Following a wonderful buffet lunch, the tournament was off and puttingat 1:30 p.m. Judge Claude Mason, Duluth and Suwanee, took 1st placewith a net score of even par 71! Judge Maurice Hilliard, Roswell,placed 2nd and Judge Jim Payne, Acworth, placed 3rd in our tourney.Claude Mason also won the long drive contest. Judge Michael Greenetook closest to the pin. How can you resist such fun and adventure?Sign up for next year’s tournament between now and next summer bycalling Jim Payne: 770-974-6911.

Savannah Golf TournamentSavannah Golf Tournament

Municipal Court Judges BulletinFall 2001 — 3 —

Money WatchFrost Ward,[email protected]

First, let me thankJudge RobertWhatley, for the

great job he has done during his termas our Council President. Second,let me congratulate Judge HenryWilliams on being elected as ournew Council President.

This was a great year for our bankaccount. You judges did a great jobin seeing that your dues were paid.Our balance as June 30, 2001 was$10,746.84 and our total expensesas of June 30, 2001 were $1,727.07.I think this is great because we didn’treceive our first dues check untilOctober 14, 1999.

We had one city request an EIN(employer identification number). Iasked Judge Gravitt of Lake City toobtain a number for the council fromthe IRS. He filed the proper papersand did this at no expense to thecouncil. If you or your governmentbody need an EIN for paying yourCouncil dues it is 58-2613925.

Allow me to ask you once again tocoordinate with your city about whois paying your dues. With the greatnumber of checks I am receiving, itis becoming too expensive and I donot have the time to continue tomonitor each account and notifycities and the judge about previouspayment and to write checks foroverpayment. In the future I willdeposit all checks I receive and cred-it the individual judges account.

If you expect to incur any expens-es, or have incurred any expenses onbehalf of the Council that you wouldlike the Council to consider paying,remember Council procedure. Notifythe new President (Judge HenryWilliams 229-436- 8600.) If thepresident approves, he will forwardhis memo to me to pay and if youhave paid your dues I will send youa check. If not I will call you and assoon as you send a dues check I willpay.

I look forward to serving as yourtreasurer, for another year. I washonored to be reelected at the coun-cil meeting in Savannah.

Keep those cards and checks com-ing.

From the Editor…Thank you to allof those hardworking peoplethat made the Julyseminar a success.We very muchappreciate the

efforts of Kathy Mitchem and RichReaves at ICJE. We also appreciateMarla Moore and her staff for theinformation provided at the councilmeeting. Thank you to Jim Payne,et al, for a great golf tournament.Most of all, the speakers are congrat-ulated on a job well done. Please letme, Dennis Still or Viviane Ernstesknow if you liked this two day for-mat. We serve on the training coun-cil and welcome your comments.Margaret Washburn.

William P. Smith, III,General Counsel, StateBar, talks about changes inthe Bar Rules.

Elizabeth Purdom (AOC) andKathy Mitchem (ICJE)

DuaneCooper,

State Bar,and Judge

MikeCielinski

Judge MargaretWashburn discusses sen-tencing alternatives andordinance enforcement.

Judge Fred Rodgersuses music to keep upinterest during presenta-tion on Search & Seizure.

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MinutesMinutes of the Annual Meeting ofthe Council of Municipal CourtJudges and the Association ofMunicipal Court Judges, Savannah,Georgia, July 10, 2001

• The meeting was called to order byPresident Whatley at 10:15 AM.

• The Minutes of the April 20, 2001meeting were approved by a unani-mous vote.

• The President thanked a number ofpeople for their hard work during theyear including, Marla Moore,Elizabeth Purdom, Judge Mecklin,Judge Payne, Judge Washburn, JudgeErnestes, Judge Williams, and JudgeWard.

• The Treasurer gave his report,which was approved by a unanimousvote. We have $10,746.84 in privatefunds.

• Judge Cielenski reported that dueto a large number of changes in traf-fic law during the recent legislativesession, revisions to the benchbookwill not be available until later in theyear.

• Judge Payne reported that 10 peo-ple participated in the golf tourna-ment. Judge Mason won the tourna-ment and the long drive. An investi-gation may be necessary, however.

• Judge Barrett reported that theCouncils legislative efforts were suc-cessful and specifically thankedJudges Leith and Greenway for theirhelp. The Senior Judge and jail feebills should be ready for introductionin 2002. The Legislative Breakfast

was successful and well attended.Marla Moore was thanked for herwork in this regard.

• Elizabeth Purdom reported thatupdates to the directory would beforthcoming and that new or replace-ment pictures are being accepted.There were 187 responses to the sur-vey, the results of which were dis-tributed to the membership.

• Judge Washburn thanked MarlaMoore for her help with the newslet-ter and, as usual, solicited contribu-tions for that publication.

• It was reported that Judge Bobbitwas selling mugs for half price.

• Judge Ernestes reported that theTraining Council was interested inthe memberships opinions about thenew format for this years seminar.

• Judge Mecklin reported on the lat-est attempt to obtain membership onthe Judicial Council. At the Summer2001 meeting, a proposal was madeto add two representatives from theMunicipal Courts and two additionalrepresentatives from the SuperiorCourts. An amendment to form acommittee to study the matter wasalso offered. The final vote was 9 infavor and 12 opposed, with the bal-ance abstaining. All representativesof non-appellate courts, except forSuperior Courts, voted for the pro-posal. All Superior Court representa-tives were opposed. This is the firsttime there has actually been a voteon a proposal to include theMunicipal Courts on the JudicialCouncil. Judge Mecklin urged us tocontinue to speak with the Superior

Court judges regarding membershipissues.

• Debra Nesbit reported that theProbation Advisory Committee haspromulgated rules and reminded themembership that private probationcontracts must be approved by theJudge. She also reported that theCouncil had closed down one unreg-istered private probation company.

• Judge Pierce, chairman of theNominating Committee, reported thatall nominees had been contactedabout the duties of any office towhich they might be elected. The listof nominees was submitted to themembership. (See Exhibit A). Thefloor was opened to additional nomi-nations. There were none. A motionwas made to close the nominations.Upon a second, the nominationswere closed and the membershipelected the persons listed on ExhibitA to the positions designated by theirnames.

• Judge Williams, the new President,who has been a part of the organiza-tion since its infancy, then addressedthe membership and specifically rec-ognized the efforts of all priorPresidents and pledged to continuetheir good work. He urged thosewho are currently active to continuetheir work and urged others tobecome active. The new Presidentrecognized the chairpersons andTraining Council members for theirefforts. He indicated he will learnhow to play golf.

• The meeting was adjourned at10:55 AM.William M. Coolidge, III, Secretary


Surfing the Web? Here’s Some Useful Pages for Municipal Courts

continued on page 5

Court/Law Related:

New • Judicial Council of GeorgiaThe homepage for the Judicial Council, with links to thecouncils of all classes of courts, as well as theAdministrative Office of the Courts.http://www.georgiacourts.org/

• Georgia Code OnlineAn online, searchable version of Georgia Codehttp://www.ganet.org/services/ocode/ocgsearch.htm

• Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC)http://www2.state.ga.us/Courts/Supreme/jqc.htm(opinions)

http://www2.state.ga.us/Courts/Supreme/jqcrules.htm(rules)

• Resources for Self- Represented LitigantsA site for pro se litigants, with the companion guide forthe video I Present My Case, as well as answers to fre-quently asked questionshttp://www.georgiacourts.org/aoc/departments/research/resources_for_self.html

• Georgia Courts Automation Commissionhttp://www.gcacsite.com/

• United States Supreme Courthttp://www.supremecourtus.gov/

• 11th Circuit Court of Appealshttp://www.law.emory.edu/11circuit/

Georgia Generally

• State of Georgiahttp://www.ganet.org/

• Links to Georgia State Agencieshttp://www.ganet.org/index/state.cgi

• Georgia Attorney Generalhttp://www.ganet.org/ago/

• Secretary of State, Cathy Coxhttp://www.sos.state.ga.us/default800.asp

• State of Georgia Telephone Directoryhttp://www2.state.ga.us/Departments/DOAS/GIST/

• Georgia Municipal Associationhttp://www.gmanet.com/index.shtml

• County/Municipalities WebsitesLinks to those counties or municipalities offering a webpage http://www.ganet.org/index/local.cgi

• Georgia InfoProduced by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government atUGA, this website offers a great deal of information aboutGeorgia and its government, including voting information,demographics, and maps http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo

Nationally• National League of Citieshttp://www.nlc.org/nlc_org/site/

• The State Justice Institute An institute that awards grants to improve the quality ofjustice in state courts nationwidehttp://www.statejustice.org/

• The American Bar Associationhttp://www.abanet.org/

Ideas? Comments? Responses?

Please send in any and allcontributions for the newsletter to:

Margaret Washburn, [email protected]

770-963-1105 / 770-963-2828 (Fax)303 Scenic Highway • Lawrenceville, GA 30045

Municipal Court Facts — April 26, 2001


Required training:

Georgia law requires all municipaljudges, whether full-time, part-time,or pro tem, to be certified that theyhave completed the required trainingfor municipal judges. By OCGA 36-32-27, after January 1, 1991, all newmunicipal judges must com-plete a 20 hour trainingcourse to be certified as amunicipal judge. Toremain certified, munici-pal judges must attend 12hours of training each year.The Georgia legislature alsoestablished the Georgia MunicipalCourts Training Council, which con-sists of five municipal judgesappointed by the Council ofMunicipal Court Judges. This train-ing council oversees all aspects ofmunicipal judges training, includingissuing certifications of completionof training and prescribing the mini-mum requirements for curricula andstandards composing the initial in-service, advanced, specialized, andcontinuing training courses for certi-fication. The training council alsomust notify the JudicialQualifications Commission of anymunicipal judge not completing therequired training in any year.

The Council of Municipal CourtJudges

All judges of municipal courts andspecial courts are members of theCouncil of Municipal Court Judges,which is established by OCGA § 36-32-40. The Executive Committee iscomposed of the president, president-elect, first vice president, secretary,

treasurer, and two representativesfrom each of the 10 judicial adminis-trative districts. The council holds itsannual meeting during its summertraining conference and holds othermeetings as scheduled by the presi-dent. The Administrative Office ofthe Courts serves as the administra-

tive staff for the council. TheCouncil has state funding

through the AdministrativeOffice of the Courts Jurisdiction

OCGA 36-32-1gives each municipal corpora-

tion the authorization to establishand maintain a municipal court hav-ing jurisdiction over the violation ofmunicipal ordinances and over suchother matters as are by general lawmade subject to the jurisdiction ofmunicipal courts. Individual munici-palities determine the qualificationsand compensation of municipaljudges. Additional jurisdictionincludes:

All judges ofall municipalcourts inthis stateshall haveand aregiven thesame powersand authoritiesas magistrates inthe matter of and per-taining to criminal cases ofwhatever nature in the several courtsof this state. (OCGA § 36-32-3)

The municipal court of any munic-ipality is granted jurisdiction overthe following misdemeanors: mari-

juana possession of one ounce orless, shoplifting ofproperty val-ued at $300or less,underagepurchasingand posses-sion of alco-hol, and in coun-ties with no state court, criminal tres-pass. The jurisdiction of such court isconcurrent with the jurisdiction ofany other courts within the countyhaving jurisdiction to try and disposeof such cases. The defendant shall beentitled on request to have the casetransferred to the court having gener-al misdemeanor jurisdiction in thecounty wherein the alleged offenseoccurred. Municipal courts are limit-ed to fines/imprisonment as set forthin the municipality’s charter.(OCGA §§ 36-32-6, 36-32-9, 36-32-10, 36-32-10.1, )

All municipal courts are grantedjurisdiction to try and dispose of

misdemeanor traffic offensesarising under state law

except violations of CodeSection 40-6-393 (vehic-ular homicide) and toimpose any punishmentauthorized for suchoffenses under general

state law, whether or notthere is a city, county, or

state court in such county, ifthe defendant waives a jury trial

and the offense arises within the lim-its of the municipality. (OCGA § 40-13-21)

Publications:The Council of Municipal Court

Municipal Court Facts — April 26, 2001


Judges produces a quarterly newslet-ter, which is sent to all municipal andspecial court judges. The Council ofMunicipal Court Judges also has pro-duced a pictorial directory and hasprovided it to all municipal and spe-cial court judges. The MunicipalCourts Training Council provides aMunicipal benchbook to all newmunicipal and special court judges

and updates to sitting judges.

History Notes:The Municipal Court was repre-

sented in the Judicial Council fromJuly 1, 1980 to June 30, 1982. TheCouncil of Municipal Court Judgeswas created by the Georgia legisla-ture July 1994.

Attorneys: 378 Non-Attorneys: 33

Male: 342 Female: 65

White: 321 Black: 38

Number serving in more than one

municipality: 102

• Number designated as pro tem/pro hac in any court: 48

• Number designated as the pri-mary/regularly scheduled judgein any court: 377

• These are not exclusive becauseone can be pro tem in one courtand primary in another

• Number serving as Magistrates:38 (22 Chief Magistrates;16 Magistrates)

• Number serving as Probatejudges: 13 + 2 retired

• Number serving as State Courtjudges: 9

• Number serving as Juvenilejudges: 12

• Other distinguished positions

held (past & present):

Former Superior Court Judge, State

Representative (4), Public

Defenders (4), City Attorney (5),

County Commissioners, City

Council members, Past President of

the State Bar, Mayor, Solicitors,

School Board members, Assistant

U.S. Attorney, Judicial Nominations

Commission, Past Chairman of

State Ethics Commission

Did You Know?Did You Know?

• The next meeting of the Council ofMunicipal Court Judges will takeplace on Friday, October 5 at 10:00a.m. The meeting will take place atthe Electrical Cooperative TrainingCenter located 1/4 mile west of I-75off exit 181 located between Maconand Forsyth. Please call LaShawnMurphy at 404-651-6325 if you planto attend so that we have enoughroom and lunches.

• The Municipal Courts TrainingCouncil will meet at 1:00 PM onOctober 5 at the ElectricalCooperative Training Center.

• Due to the overwhelming interestin the Municipal Clerk TrainingSession, the Institute of ContinuingJudicial

Education has added a second pro-gram to this year's calender. Theoriginal training session, to be heldon September 20 and 21, becameoversubscribed, necessitating theaddition of a second session toaccommodate all who were interest-ed.

• The new Municipal Clerk TrainingSession will be held December 13and 14 at the Georgia Center, inAthens, Georgia located on theUniversity of Georgia Campus. Ifyou were unable to be a part of theSeptember training session, and arestill interested, please contact KathyMitchem at (706) 542-7403. Pleasepass this information on to yourclerks.

• The Third AnnualLegislative Breakfast will be

held on Thursday, January31, 7:30-9:00 a.m. Plan to

attend and be sure and ask yoursenators and representatives to

attend as well. Special invitations tothem will go out the first week inJanuary.

Mark Your Calendars!


Some Useful Pages for Municipal Courts continued

The National Judicial CollegeThe National Judicial College offers judicial educationcoursethese courses can often gain approval from theMunicipal Training Council to count toward the requiredtraining for municipal judges.http://www.judges.org/

Courts in Other StatesA part of the National Center for State Courts website, thisoffers links to courts of other stateshttp://www.ncsconline.org/Information/info_court_web_sites.html

Thinking of making/improving your own website? Check out some other municipal courts’ websites:

• Acworthhttp://www.acworth.org/government/departments/court/index.shtml

• Athens-Clarke County:http://www.athensclarkecounty.com/municipalcourt/index.htm

• Atlanta City Courthttp://www.atlantatrafficcourt.com/

• Norcrosshttp://www.norcross-ga-gvt.com/government/dept_munici-pal.asp

The following courts have links within their cities’ page:• Alpharettahttp://www.alpharetta.ga.us/(Click on City Services then Court Services)

• Cordelehttp://www.cityofcordele.com/(Click on Municipal Court Judge)

• Duluthhttp://www.duluthpd.com/(Click on Court Services)

• Snellvillehttp://www.snellville.org/(Click on Municipal Court)

• Stockbridgehttp://www.cityofstockbridge.com/court.htm(Click on Services, then Municipal Court)

If you want to develop a website for your court, theAdministrative Office of the Courts can help you!Contact Greg Arnold at (404) 656-6413 or email him [email protected]

Check Out the Council’s New Web Site!Check Out the Council’s New Web Site!

www.georgiacourts.org/municipal

Yes, the Council now has its own web site.Please visit it an let us know how we canmake it better. Send your suggestions to

[email protected]


New Officers and District Representatives

Following is a list of the officersand district representatives who wereelected on July 10, 2001 for the2001-2002 year. Please give them acall if you have any concerns thatneed to be brought before the leader-ship of your council.

PresidentHenry E. Williams

President ElectJudge Viviane H. Ernsetes

Vice PresidentJudge Charles Barrett, III

TreasurerJudge A. Frost Ward

SecretaryJudge William M. Coolidge, III

Training CouncilJudge Michael CielinskiJudge Robert B. Whatley

District Representatives

District 1Judge Martha KirklandJudge Willie T. Yancey, II

District 2Judge John K. Edwards, Jr.Judge William M. Shingles, Sr.

District 3Judge Pamela R. GreenwayJudge David M. Pierce

District 4Judge C. David StricklandJudge James C. Watkins

District 5Judge Elaine CarlisleJudge Calvin S. Graves

District 6Judge John Clayton DavisJudge Robert W. Shuman, Sr.

District 7Judge Rick CrawfordJudge Philip Taylor

District 8Judge Tommy Bobbitt, IIIJudge Charles Merritt, Jr.

District 9Judge Steven LeibelJudge Bertram D. Waln

District 10Judge John G. Cicala, Jr.Judge Ethlyn Simpson

New training council memberselected. Judge Mike Cielinski,Columbus and Judge RobertWhatley, LaGrange have been elect-ed to replace Judge Viviane Ernstesand Judge LeRoy Burke on theMunicipal Courts Training Council.They will be serving with membersJudge Margaret Washburn, JudgeRoger Rozen and Judge Dennis Still.Judge Ernstes and Judge Burke haveably served your training council. Abig thanks to them for their service.

1) At lunchtime, sit in your parked carw/sunglasses on and point a hair dryerat passing cars. See if they slow down. 2) Page yourself over the intercom.Don’t disguise your voice. 3) Every time someone asks you to dosomething, ask if they want fries withthat. 4) Put your garbage can on your deskand label it “IN.” 5) Put decaf in the coffee maker for 3weeks. Once everyone has gotten overhis or her caffeine addictions, switchto espresso. 6) In the memo field of all yourchecks, write “FOR SEXUALFAVORS”. 7) Finish all your sentences with “In

accordance with the prophecy.”8) Dont use any punctuation 9) As often as possible, skip ratherthan walk. 10) Ask people what sex they are.Laugh hysterically after they answer. 11) Specify that your drive-throughorder is “to go.” 12) Sing along at the opera. 13) Go to a poetry recital and ask whythe poems don’t rhyme. 14) Put mosquito netting around yourwork area. Play a tape of junglesounds all day. 15) Five days in advance, tell yourfriends you can’t attend their partybecause you’re not in the mood. 16) Have your coworkers address you

by your wrestling name, Rock Hard. 17) When the money comes out of theATM, scream “I Won! I Won! 3rd timethis week!!!”18) When leaving the zoo, start run-ning towards the parking lot, yelling,“Run for your lives, they’re loose!”19) Tell your children over dinner.“Due to the economy, we are going tohave to let one of you go.”And the final way to keep a healthylevel of insanity.... 20) Send this to everyone in youraddress book, even if they sent it toyou or have asked you not to sendthem stuff like this.

How to Keep a Healthy Level of Insanity!!!

Municipal Court Judges Bulletin Fall` 2001— 10—

Summary of Survey Results

Number of Courts Responding, includes Special Courts: 187

Number of Courts with:

1 Primary

174 10

More than1 Primary

Estimated Traffic Caseload:

Total Cases heard by all reporting courts

Number of Courts reporting:

Less than 100 cases100-499 cases500-999 cases

1000-4999 casesMore than 5000 cases

No repsonse/Not detailed

Total Surveys

459,096

224929501720187

Courtsreceivingbenefits:

24

Estimated Preliminary Hearing Caseload:



No Preliminary HearingsLess than 50 cases

50-199 cases200-999 cases

More than 1000 casesNo repsonse

Total Surveys

106,858

1291673527187

Estimated Total Caseload:



Less than 100 cases100-499 cases500-999 cases

1000-4999 casesMore than 5000 cases

No repsonse

Total Surveys

687,678

194034552316187

Estimated Ordinance Caseload:



No ordinanceLess than 50 cases

50-199 cases200-999 cases

More than 1000 casesNo repsonse/Not detailed

Total Surveys

54,627

23594232724187

Fall 2001 Municipal Court Judges Bulletin— 11 —

Summary of Survey Results continued

Court Sessions per month:


One or lessTwo

3-5 (or weekly)More than 5No response

Total Surveys

924723204

186

Personnel


Anyat all

Anyfull-time

Anypart-time

ClerksBailiffSolicitorPublic Def.

69152 9236 14

9 353 10

23456

Salary Paid by Court Per YearBased on tabulating given methods of payment to a yearly salary. A

judge may receive a higher cumulative salary if serving in several

MinimumMaximumAverageMedianImpossible to gauge yearly salary

$600.00$120,107.00

$10,388.00$4,800.00

20

Salary/Caseload($ per case)**

MinimumMaximumAverageMedianUnknown

$0.38$150.00

$10.61$5.45

31

Cases Heard in 2000 Per Judge In Each Court*

(Total cases divided by number of Primary Judges — does not include Pro Tem Judges)

MinimumMaximumAverageMedianUnknown

1036,3982,554

85018

* These tabulations are not exact, and should be only used for relative comparisions. Not only are the reported number of cases oftenrough, but the contribution of pro tem judges is not included, and we have no way of measuring if the pro tem judges' service significantlyreduces the number of cases heard per year by each judge. Also, some primary judges are part-time, so this comparision would give them alarger bulk of the cases than may actually be the case.

** Again, these tabulations are extremely rough, relying on the approximations in the above chart on caseload per judge and included onlyto aid in comparision, since the disparate salaries per year reflect the extreme differences in the number of cases in courts across the state.For instance, the court providing the minimum absolute salary of $600 hears only 25 cases per year, for a rough estimation of $24 per case,much higher than the average and the median. And contrarily, the court providing the maximum salary of $120,107 per year has each judgehearing more than 10,000 cases a year, for a estimation of about $6.77 per case, around the median amount.

Council of Municipal Court Judges244 Washington Street, SW • Suite 300Atlanta, Georgia 30334

MARGARET GETTLE WASHBURNChief Judge, DuluthEditor

MARLA MOOREAssistant Director,Judicial Liaison

ASHLEY G. STOLLARGraphic Design

While on ProbationFrost Ward, [email protected]

Private Probation is alive and well. Itcontinues to grow each month. Of allthe courts using private probation themunicipal courts are still the largestusers of this service.

Ms. Debra Nesbit, Staff Directorfor County and Municipal ProbationAdvisory Council (CMPAC) isdoing a great job. At our last meetingshe brought two companies before

the council that were not exactly fol-lowing the guidelines for operating aprivate probation service in the Stateof Georgia. After a hearing beforethe council one company wasallowed to make the necessary cor-rections and continue in business.The other company decided to getout of the business. This is to adviseyou that the CMPAC is now in aposition to get things accomplishedconcerning violations of private pro-bation companies.

We need all the judges using pri-vate probation to monitor the proba-tion service in your court and if youhave any problems or any questionsplease call Ms. Nesbit at 404-651-7616 or me at 770-960-3012.

Private Probation is a great thingfor those of us that have small courtsand whose city does not have a pro-bation department. We have a greatgroup of business men and womenrunning these companies, but likeany other businesses there willalways be one or two that will notwant to follow the rules. As judgeslet’s work together to make sure thebest are serving our courts.

PleaseRecycle

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Fall 2001 • The Georgia Council of Municipal Court...

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Transcript of Fall 2001 • The Georgia Council of Municipal Court...