Interviews for judgeship start today

Jim Wilbanks said his desire to become a Superior Court judge came early in his life.

“I knew in the fourth grade I wanted to be an attorney and a judge, so this is something I’ve been preparing for all these years,” he said on Monday, not long after he learned that Gov. Nathan Deal’s “short list” interviews for the seat of retired Judge Robert Adams in the Conasauga Judicial Circuit (Whitfield and Murray counties) were taking place today.

But Wilbanks is not one of those finalists. His quest to be a senior judge in the circuit will be delayed.

Making the short list and meeting with the governor today are Celeste Creswell, an area attorney who works in both Georgia and Tennessee; assistant district attorney Scott Minter; and Dalton attorney David Blevins. Wilbanks and Dalton attorney Rob Cowan were also considered by the state’s Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) after being nominated, but were not chosen for the short list.

The interviews were initially scheduled for Feb. 14, but were moved up a week when Deal had an opening in his schedule, said Rhonda Greenway, an executive assistant with the governor’s office.

Adams’ seat was up for reelection this summer, but since his last day before retirement was Jan. 31 it cut into a provision required by the state Constitution that there be six months between the governor’s appointment and the election date for a judge’s seat — which this year will be July 31, the day for the presidential primary in Georgia.

Whomever the governor selects after today’s interview will therefore not be required to run for election until 2014, which is the next cycle for electing judges.

How quickly will the governor make the appointment?

“It just depends, sometimes he makes the decision within in a week or so, sometimes he takes a little longer,” Greenway said. “It depends on input from the local area, what’s going on in the office, it can vary ... (the candidates) usually submit letters of recommendation and if there are areas the governor needs to follow up on, he has one of his attorneys do that.”

But Wilbanks feels the Judicial Nominating Commission — and the governor — had plenty of time to make an appointment happen before the deadline when an election couldn’t take place, even if Adams had to wait until Jan. 31 due to retirement requirements.

“Back when Judge Adams announced (his retirement), we knew things were going to have to move fast for there to be an election,” he said. “I started a campaign last year, got my paperwork filed with the former State Ethics Commission (now the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission). This is not something I was willing to do just if it worked out — I had started a campaign because when the JNC got to work in November they made it very clear ... that the governor was going to do the right thing and allow an election. So I started a campaign last year ... It was stronger than me thinking about it or just sitting on the sidelines — I had committed to it ... I had had conversations with folks who said, ‘Well, look, Jim, you may have started a campaign and there may not be an election.’ I said, ‘Well, that’s fine, I understand that but I’d rather go ahead and get into it and get it cranked up and get it ready if there is, versus having to get into it later.’ I was getting in as soon as I could.”

Chief Judge William Boyett was asked if the circuit could just do without a judge for a time, allowing an election to take place in July without the governor having to make an immediate appointment.

“What the governor does is up to the governor, and we don’t take a position on that,” he said. “What we will do is to utilize senior judges who are retired Superior Court judges who come in and work when there’s a need — this would be one of those needs — or frequently we use senior judges when there’s a conflict. Let’s say that a relative of one of us is involved in litigation, that kind of thing. And so we would be able to cover it as best we can as long as it may be.”

Boyett was firm in saying the court would remain neutral in the selection process for a new judge.

“We want to be very careful about taking a position about what the governor should or shouldn’t do because we have no official business taking a side in that — we don’t have a dog in that fight,” he said. “It would be inappropriate for us to express opinions about that.”

Wilbanks — who has been a Dalton Municipal Court judge for several years, sat in as a Superior Court judge and has also been an associate judge to Judge Connie Blaylock in Juvenile Court — said he would not run for Judge Jack Partain’s seat this summer, or for Boyett’s or Judge Cindy Morris’ seats when their election time comes up in 2014.

But will he gear up for the 2014 election for Adams’ old seat?

“Yes, yes, whenever they let that election happen I’ll be there for it,” Wilbanks replied.

The election in 2014 for the position Adams held will be for a two-year term to get the seats back on the staggered two-and-two they are on now — that is, two judges during a presidential election year and the two others during a gubernatorial election year.

Kay Staten, registrar of the Whitfield County Board of Elections, was asked if there had been any calls about the lack of an election for judge this year.

“No, it’s been very quiet,” she said.

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