Despite passing a motion two months
ago in support of a private act to establish a
second General Sessions Court judge in Loudon
County, Loudon County Commission on Monday did not
put its final stamp of approval on the position,
failing to get the required two-thirds majority that
would have paved the way for a new court to open by
Sept. 1.
General Sessions Court Judge Rex
Dale, who has been petitioning commissioners for
assistance with the caseload in Loudon County since
at least spring 2014, told the board the private act
had made its way through Nashville and had been
signed by both speakers of the Tennessee General
Assembly and Gov. Bill Haslam.
“My judicial ethics required me to
come to County Commission when I needed help, and
that’s what I did last April and May prior to the
2014 election,” Dale said, noting that the county
hired Hank Sledge, who serves as juvenile magistrate
and judicial commissioner, this past year to assist
with the caseload.
“That helps me in one of my
jurisdictions out of one of the five that I’ve
got, but it’s like putting a Band-Aid on an open
sore,” Dale said.
Dale, who makes about $150,000 in
salary and benefits, told commission in April
that the county could increase the General
Sessions Court litigation tax by as much as
$51.97 for a total of $68.97 to assist in
offsetting costs associated with paying for a
new judge.
The court system has a 94-95
percent litigation tax collection rate on civil
cases and a 74 percent collection rate on
criminal cases, up from 60 percent when he took
office in 2010, Dale said, noting that the tax
“provides fully” for the salary and supplements
of the two judge posts.
He said the litigation tax is
only applied to responsible parties in the court
system.
“It’s not penalizing property
owners for owning property in this county and
having them to pay a judge’s salary,” Dale said.
“It’s the people that utilizes the services in
General Sessions Court that are responsible for
bringing that action, the ones that get the
judgment against them. It becomes a tax against
them.”
Numerous commissioners expressed
a concern that providing final approval and
funding for a second judge would damage the
county’s case in the ongoing lawsuit between
Loudon County Mayor Rollen “Buddy” Bradshaw and
General Sessions Court Clerk Lisa Niles.
Dale said multiple times during
the meeting that the decision to establish a
second judgeship was a “totally separate” issue
from the Niles lawsuit. As part of her lawsuit,
Niles has requested additional deputy clerks for
her court offices and salary increases for all
current employees.
“I don’t file cases; I decide
cases,” Dale said. “She files cases; she doesn’t
decide cases.”
He said that regardless of how
many court employees the county has on the
payroll, the number of cases that must be tried
by a General Sessions judge will remain
unchanged.
“Adding a second judge now does
not do anything to hinder or hurt Lisa Niles’s
lawsuit because we can adjust our jurisdictions
where we’re not using more than the same
employees than we’ve got right now,” Dale said.
Commissioner Bill Satterfield
made a motion to approve the second judge, and
Commissioner David Meers seconded. The motions
were followed by more discussion.
Commissioner Harold Duff said he
was in favor of a second judge position,
pointing to the county’s current backlog of
350-400 cases.
“Cases are scheduled and
rescheduled, and some cases have been in the
court system for long periods of time, some as
long as four years,” Duff said. “And in my
opinion, Loudon County can do better than this.
No citizen I don’t think in Loudon County ...
should have to wait a long period of time for
their case to be heard and be dispensed.”
Commission voted 6-4 in favor of
the motion, but the private act resolution
failed as it did not receive a required
two-thirds majority to establish a new
judgeship. Commissioners Kelly
Littleton-Brewster, Earlena Maples, Henry Cullen
and Van Shaver voted against the measure. The
resolution to send the private act to Nashville
in support of the second judge passed by an 8-2
vote in April, with Maples and Shaver in
opposition.
“A little bit,” Dale said after
the meeting when asked if he was disappointed in
commission’s decision. “The good thing is it’s
still open right now so anything can happen.”
The private act remains good
through the end of the calendar year should
County Commission seek to reverse course.
“I think it’s unfair to use Lisa
Niles’ lawsuit as a wedge to stop the second
judge but they’re the voters,” Dale said, noting
that he thought the county’s decision was “a
shame for Loudon County voters and property
owners.”
“That’s the difficult part,
making a three-day trial last a year in General
Sessions is tough,” Dale said.