By Larry Stanford

editorial1@thomastontimes.com

The Georgia Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) has submitted recommendations to fill two judgeships on the Griffin Judicial Circuit to Governor Sonny Perdue. The two vacancies on the Griffin Judicial Circuit were created by the resignations of Judge Johnnie L. Caldwell, Jr. and Judge Paschal A. English, Jr.

The JNC submitted the following short list of names for the Griffin Judicial Circuit:

• Robert “Mack” Crawford – Director of Georgia Public Standards Council

• Carla W. McMillian – Partner, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP

• Benjamin J. Miller, Jr. – Juvenile Court Judge, Griffin Judicial Circuit

• Robert A. Ruppenthal – Robert A. Ruppenthal, P.C.

• Fletcher Sams – Judge, State Court of Fayette County

• James R. Westbury, Jr. – James R. Westbury, Jr., P.C.

The Governor will interview the six final candidates and make his decision on who to appoint to fill the two vacated positions. It could be August or September before those appointments are made.

Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney Scott Ballard, who was among the 44 lawyers nominated and interviewed by the JNC, said last week during a press conference called to release the results of an investigation into Judge Englsh's relationship with an assistant public defender in Fayette County, that he hopes the two judgeships will be filled soon.

"We have to have our judicial system functioning 100 percent," said Ballard. "We can't afford to do it any less than that. We've tried to continue doing that with half of our judges. We did have two senior judges come in to help us with our cases, but this matter has been a distraction, and we are looking forward to having a full complement of judges on the bench and getting about what we really know how to do, which is prosecute cases."