Two temporary judges will preside over municipal court in September as Judge Gary Goodwin takes medical leave.
The city council voted 5-0 during a work session Wednesday at City Hall to appoint retired Chancery Court Judge Dorothy Colom as judge pro tempore in Goodwin’s absence. It also will allow Colom to tap Shane Thompkins, the municipal judge for Caledonia, to hear cases she cannot.
“Judge Goodwin is very ill right now,” Jammie Garrett, the city’s chief operations officer, told the council. “Court was canceled last week because he wasn’t feeling well.”
Appointing fill-in judges through September, Garrett said, will keep the docket from getting “more backed up than it already is.”
Each judge will receive $1,971.02 for the month of work, the standard pay for a Columbus municipal judge, Human Resources Director Pat Mitchell said. Court will continue to convene each Thursday.
Municipal court handles misdemeanor cases and also deals with initial appearances for some felonies before those cases are bound over to Lowndes County Circuit Court. City Attorney Jeff Turnage said having two judges to fill-in instead of just Colom will help alleviate conflicts of interest.
“Judge Colom won’t be presiding over any felony matters because her son (Scott Colom) is the (district attorney for the 16th Circuit),” Turnage said. “She’s only going to handle misdemeanor cases.”
Thompkins will preside over all felony matters, except those where associates in his firm – some of whom are public defenders – have a conflict.
“Those cases (where Thompkins’ firm has a conflict) will have to be continued,” Turnage said.
Vice Mayor Ethel Stewart presided over Wednesday’s work session in Mayor Stephen Jones’ absence. Therefore, she could not vote on the measure.
Goodwin was appointed to the bench in 2015 to replace Marc Amos, who left to become an assistant district attorney. He has served as the municipal court’s only judge since Rhonda Hayes Ellis retired in March.
The city has not yet appointed a replacement for Ellis, though it is advertising to fill the vacancy and potentially restore municipal court to two judges.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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