The Habersham County Commission delayed the request from Probate Judge Pam Wooley for the appointment of a temporary judge during its Monday commission meeting. The agenda item requesting the appointment was removed at the beginning of the meeting at the request of Commissioner Bruce Harkness.
Habersham County Probate Judge Pam Wooley has requested the Habersham County Commission to allow for the appointment of an attorney as a temporary judge so she can recuse herself from a case in Probate Court.
The case involving the estate of Carol O’Dell Lovell, who passed away a few months ago, creates a conflict of interest for Wooley, and she cannot hear it. She has asked the county commission to consider setting the temporary judge’s per diem compensation at $500 per day until the case is resolved.
By law, the commission is required to allow for the appointment of a temporary judge in cases where the sitting judge may have to recuse themselves.
After the commission meeting, Harkness was asked why the item was removed from the agenda? “I felt it was not right to vote on an item such as this with two commissioners not here to vote,” he said. Commissioners Dustin Mealor and Bruce Palmer were not in attendance at the meeting. Harkness added, “The matter is not a time sensitive issue and could wait until the full commission could convene and have an opportunity to vote on the matter.”
