Some Fulton judges billed the county anywhere from three to six times more for training over the past three years than did most of their counterparts in Gwinnett and Cobb counties, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has learned.
The AJC examined the travel and training expenses for which the Superior and State Court judges in Fulton, Gwinnett and Cobb billed their respective counties during the period.
Here’s a quick breakdown:
● Fulton: The Superior Court has 19 judges and had an average expense of $1,900. State Court has 10 judges and had an average expense of $3,867.
● Gwinnett: The Superior Court has 10 judges and had an average expense of $707. State Court has six judges and had an average expense of $658.
● Cobb: The Superior Court has 10 judges and had an average expense of $2,688 but the median expense was only $832. The highest-billing judge examined by the AJC was Cobb Superior Court Judge Mary Staley, who billed her county for a total of $11,371 between 2008 and the present. Cobb State Court has 12 judges and had an average expense of $887.
State and Superior Court judges are required to have an average of 12 hours per year in continuing judicial education, said Richard Reaves, executive director of the Institute of Continuing Judicial Education.
The institute offers enough courses for judges to obtain all their credits within the state, but some judges choose to travel to other states for specialized training, Reaves said.
Don Plummer, a spokesman for Fulton Superior Court, said the court is proud of its commitment to judicial training.
“Our court believes that it is vital for judges to stay current on new laws and new judicial processes in order to provide citizens the most efficient and fair access to justice for all,” Plummer said.
The highest-billing Fulton judge was State Court Judge Fred C. Eady at $7,425, while in Fulton Superior Court the highest-billing was Judge Kimberly Esmond Adams at $5,890.
Four Fulton Superior Court judges who preside over specialty drug and mental health courts (Judges Gail Tusan, Bensonetta Tipton Lane, Cynthia D. Wright and Doris L. Downs) have extra training requirements that increase the cost per judge, Plummer said.
However, even among those judges there was a disparity. Tusan billed the county $3,248, Lane $2,522 and Wright $3,233, while Downs’ bill was only $350.
Some judges in Fulton did not submit bills to the county for reimbursement. They were Jerry W. Baxter, T. Jackson Bedford, Christopher S. Brasher, Tom Campbell, John Goger and Wendy Shoob.
Plummer said the court actually cut its overall expenses in half between 2008 and 2009, from about $20,000 to about $10,000. The court is on track to maintain a reduction in 2010.
In Gwinnett, Superior Court judges Dawson Jackson, Karen Beyers and Ronnie Batchelor did not bill the county for any of their travel and training, although they met the required number of hours. Judges Michael Clark and Timothy Hamil requested reimbursements of $150 and $117 respectively over three years.
The judge with the most travel and training expenses in Gwinnett was Superior Court Judge Warren Davis, with $2,545.
“Gwinnett judges are very cognizant of the fact that we operate with taxpayer monies that the Board of Commissioners provides us,” said Gwinnett Court Administrator Phil Boudewyns.
In Cobb, top-spending Staley, reached by phone Friday, said she was surprised that it appeared she was out of sync with her peers on the county bench.
The next-highest Cobb spender was Superior Judge Steve Schuster with a total bill of $7,156. Three judges in Cobb — Dorothy Robinson, Lark Ingram and Robert Flournoy — did not bill the county at all. Instead, they obtained reimbursement from the state or paid their own way.
Staley said she believes that may account for the disparity. State reimbursement records were not immediately available, but Staley said she was going to look into the issue.
“I’ve not heard before that I was out of line; if that is the case it needs to be corrected and I’ll take steps to do that,” Staley said.
She travels more than some of her colleagues because she is on the State Bar of Georgia Institute for Continuing Legal Education, which meets four times per year.
She is also active in the Family Law Institute and is the administrative judge for the 7th Judicial District.
Gwinnett this year instituted a policy that judges must obtain their training in-state, Boudewyns said. Cobb and Fulton have no such policy.
An AJC investigation in May found that State Court Judge Barbara Mobley in DeKalb County spent nearly $25,000 in county money traveling to conferences in Jamaica, Panama and the Virgin Islands over three years — more than twice as much as any of that county’s six other State Court judges.
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Continuing coverage
In May, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation found that a state court judge spent nearly $25,000 in county money traveling to conferences in Jamaica, Panama and the Virgin Islands .
Today the AJC’s coverage of government spending continues with a look into travel and training expenses in Fulton, Gwinnett and Cobb counties.
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