After more than four months, we still have no answers regarding the status of Habersham County’s Chief Magistrate Judge Gerald Johnson.
Now, as of Monday night, the county has approved a part-time magistrate judge to help out with the caseload that is piling up in his absence.
There is a lot to unpack here. First, if the magistrate court needed temporary help, why did it take four months to get it? Perhaps officials there thought it would be resolved before now, and they would not be alone in that thinking.
At the beginning of this month, we asked Judge Amy Thomas how things were going at the magistrate court since Johnson has been away in the wake of his involvement in an Oct. 18 domestic violence incident.
“So far, we are current on all our pending cases and scheduled hearings. We have a very competent clerk staff that is handling business as usual,” Thomas said Feb. 4. “Since assuming the Clerk of Magistrate Court duties, we have experienced a smooth transition. We have been working closely with our records management system operators and are fine tuning some of the administrative functions to ensure the duties of the clerk are performed effectively and most efficiently for the public and all our stakeholders.”
Sounds great, but not very realistic.
We find it hard to believe that the magistrate court would be able to hum along under these circumstances without interruption, no matter how skilled and competent its staff may be. And now here we are.
Now the county is paying a supplement of $30.43 per hour to a part-time judge – who, by the way, will be appointed by the state, not the county – to the tune of $13,370 for the remainder of this fiscal year. Add that to the $28,000 or so taxpayers have paid Johnson to not serve while the Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) secretly decides his fate. That number will continue to rise every 15th or so of each month until something is changed.
Thomas said one other thing on Feb. 4. “We support Chief Magistrate Gerald Johnson and are looking forward to his return to work.”
On Monday night, when the question was raised about how long to extend this part-time position, County Attorney Donnie Hunt said the range of things that could happen includes Johnson’s reinstatement to the bench, a return to administrative duties only, him being replaced, or some things in between. Which begs the question: If Johnson is brought back in an administrative capacity whether his salary – which is already higher than state statutes dictate – would continue at that rate.
And what would that mean for the part-timer? Would that person then be full-time, with taxpayers paying double?
The JQC and the Georgia Supreme Court – which has sealed the records in this case – owe the public better than this.
Either put Johnson back to work or remove him and stand by your decision. Don’t leave Habersham County and its taxpayers holding the bag while you convene shadow hearings in a secret court. We deserve better.