WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Warner Robins City Attorney Fred Graham asked the state for a ruling on whether he can keep his job as a municipal court judge.
On Thursday, he got his answer.
13WMAZ started looking into the matter a month ago when a viewer asked us if Graham had a conflict of interest.
The opinion from the Judicial Qualifications Commission says he does.
When he was named Warner Robins City Attorney in October, Graham was already a municipal court judge.
Graham says almost a month ago, he reached out to the Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission to ask if he could legally hold both jobs.
On Thursday, the commission’s director Chuck Boring said Graham’s dual role is a conflict of interest.
Mayor Randy Toms says when they were looking for a replacement for former City Attorney Jim Elliot, he had another municipal court judge in mind, but in the end, council chose Graham.
So, those conflict of interest questions were already being discussed.
"I think one of the things that we need to remember is, at all times, just because it can be done, doesn’t mean it should be done, so I think if there is concern that it’s not proper or that it’s not allowed, or maybe it’s allowed, but it’s frowned upon, I think in an abundance of caution, we should take another look at that," said Warner Robins Mayor Randy Toms.
In his opinion, Boring cites Georgia Code 15-8-2 which says, "it is illegal for a judge of any city court to also hold any municipal office or appointment in the city where the court is held."
As a municipal court judge, Graham hears cases on misdemeanor traffic offenses, drug offenses and city ordinance violations.
"There will be some cases that he just can’t hear from the bench, and so that puts the court system on a little bit of unsteady ground if you have to delay something to get another judge in there to hear the case," said Toms.
Boring says Graham reached out to the commission as a proactive move since no one had filed complaints against him.
"It may be time for us to look at this now and say, 'Regardless of what the JQC says, it doesn’t look good,'" said Toms.
Boring wrote that Graham can't work as a judge without ruling on some of the same legal matters he handles as city attorney.
He also says the two jobs raise constitutional concerns since one person can't hold authority in two branches of government.
Boring wrote that his statement is just an opinion and not legally binding.
Thursday afternoon, Graham told us he was still reviewing that opinion and wasn’t ready to comment.
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