State Court expansion on hold
Rep. Benton won’t seek legislation for this year
BY ANGELA GARY
The Jackson County State Court won’t officially be made full-time this year. Rep. Tommy Benton put his plans for a full-time court on hold after Jackson County leaders asked him not to proceed with the matter.
County officials want more information on the idea, as well as the court’s case load and the impact on the county budget.
When Benton announced earlier this session that he would introduce legislation making the court full-time, the idea was met with reservation by the Jackson County Board of Commissioners. The BOC is concerned about funding the court on a full-time basis.
Controversy about the court has been ongoing in recent years as reports of backlog cases and dismissed cases have been in the news.
Benton’s proposed legislation had called for the salary of the State Court judge to be 80 percent of the salary of the Superior Court judges. It also called for the salary of the State Court solicitor to be 80 percent of the district attorney’s salary.
Judge Jerry Gray and solicitor Don Moore are now considered part-time employees.
SUPPORTS SALES TAX
In other legislative news, Benton reported that one of the main issues addressed last week was the one-cent sales tax for Regional Development Centers. Benton voted in favor of the legislation.
“This would be voted on state-wide and would require members of the district to OK it,” he said. “It would be for highway improvements. One-hundred percent of the money would stay in the district. District representatives from each county would get together and decide on priorities for paving projects.”
Benton said Friday will be the last day of this session and the 2009 budget is the main issue to be addressed.
“We still have the ‘09 budget to go to conference committee and be voted on by both houses,” he said. “That is the big one.”
Benton can be reached at 404-656-0177 (office), 706-367-5891 (home in Jefferson) or by e-mail at tommy.benton@house.ga.gov.
