Plans being made to bring fourth Dougherty County Superior Court judge onboard to ease court caseload

ALBANY — Dougherty County Superior Court is set to have a fourth judge on the bench come January, and the sole candidate for the position is Albany attorney Joseph Dent, Dougherty Chief Judge Willie Lockette announced on Monday.

The Judicial Nominating Commission of Georgia named Dent as the sole candidate to Gov. Brian Kemp, who could interview the attorney this week, Lockette said while giving an update on the judge’s position to the Dougherty County Commission.

“Joe is a good guy,” Lockette told a Herald reporter as he rushed from the commission meeting to his courtroom to conduct a proceeding. “He’ll make a great judge.”

The county’s Facilities Management Department is working to create a fourth courtroom in the Judicial Building.

“The position is scheduled to be filled as of Jan. 1, 2024,” Lockette told commissioners. “The reason we are getting a new judge is the skyrocketing case load, which is causing delays.”

Of the state’s 49 Superior Court circuits, the Judicial Council of Georgia last year ranked Dougherty County’s judges as having the highest workload in the state, with each of the circuit’s three judges shouldering the typical burden of 1.8 judges.

During an appearance before the commission last year, Lockette said that there were some 10,000 pending felony criminal cases, not counting the court’s civil caseload, and those cases included some of the most serious, including murder and aggravated child molestation.

Until the new courtroom is completed, the existing three courtrooms will be shared with the new judge.

“We are making plans for transitional space to accommodate him,” Lockette said. “Even without the courtroom being ready, I’m engaged in the process of scheduling proceedings, including trials next year.

“We’re going to alternate courtrooms. We’ve still got to work out some issues on how to divide the caseload.”

The county plans to convert the courtroom previously used by the city of Albany for Municipal Court sessions into the fourth courtroom in the building, Director of Facilities Heidi Hailey said.

“I’m hoping in the next two weeks I’ll have something to present that Judge Lockette can give his approval on,” she said.

Staff Photo: Alan MauldinAlanMauldin[email protected]
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