November 23, 2022
By: Dwayne Page
The county’s three judicial commissioner positions are up for appointment
During Monday night’s monthly meeting, the county commission will consider the re-appointment of judicial commissioners Tammy Ashburn and Joy Whitman to new one-year terms and the appointment of Gerald Bailiff to the third position replacing David Gash who recently resigned after serving almost two years as a judicial commissioner.
County Mayor Matt Adcock informed the county commission Tuesday night during a committee of the whole workshop meeting that Gash had resigned and that the county’s judicial committee met Tuesday, November 22 to make its appointment recommendations of Ashburn, Whitman, and Bailiff.
The county advertised the vacant position seeking applicants and three applied including Bailiff.
Duties of the Judicial commissioners include processing the following: Criminal summons for the general public; Orders of protections; signing all arrest warrants for the Smithville, Alexandria, and DeKalb County Sheriff’s Departments, Tennessee Highway Patrol, Edgar Evins State Park Rangers, and TWRA Officers; signing search warrants and search warrants for blood draws; signing Mittimus; setting bonds; speaking with every person who has been arrested; answering any and all calls from the public; and attending certification classes three days each year with no pay for hours attended.
Judicial Commissioners are subject to call at all hours of the day and night when on duty. Only one judicial commissioner works at a time during a one-week period on call for 168 hours. They rotate their weeks one week on duty and two weeks off.
The county commission has the sole authority in appointing judicial commissioners and terms may be from one to four years according to state law. For several years the county has had a judicial committee to vet and recommend applicants for appointment to the county commission. The committee is made up of Sheriff Patrick Ray, County Mayor Matt Adcock, Circuit Court Clerk Susan Martin, General Sessions/Juvenile Court Judge Brandon Cox, and Assistant District Attorney General Greg Strong.
Each judicial commissioner is paid $14,900 per year.