On the record: State Rep. Wendell Willard, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee


Q: What is your view on banning gifts by lobbyists?

A: There was felt to be a need to have some type of range limit that was a reasonable amount. And I say reasonable recognizing there are going to be times that legislators are going to be out for dinners. We’ve got a lot of people who come in for the legislative session from out of town and in doing so the thought is in the evenings when they have time, some of the lobbyist want to take those legislators out and talk about issues and bills and programs and the appropriate time to do it may be at dinner.

Q: What’s wrong with an absolute gift ban?

A: I think one of the hazards you run into with a complete ban is to say the cup of coffee ban. You’ll have people who will perhaps use that as a mechanism to try and do an “I gotcha.” ... If you got a total ban then somebody could say he received this item maybe worth $5, maybe worth $20, I don’t know, but then you would have somebody perhaps try to use that ... as a way of filing ethics complaints against elected officials. ... Certainly you can take someone out and have a fine dinner for up to $100 without having the fear of running into some area where you buck against the ethics limitation.

Q: What about ethics enforcement?

A: We’ve got a good commission set up and they do a wonderful public service, but the problem is they are not funded enough. So one of the things that people are still talking about during this session is trying to find a way to have some dedicated funding for the Ethics Commission. ... I don’t know if there is a magic figure, but certainly they need to have sufficient resources to do the work that we ask of them. You are still probably talking about probably another $200,000 to $250,000.

Q: What did you learn from Glenn Richardson’s demise?

A: We are all as individuals susceptible to things affecting our private lives that are also going to flow over to our public lives perhaps and I was very supportive of Glenn in the early stages of his speakership. I think one of the short comings, I believe Glenn would even acknowledge, is that he had sometimes a too quick a temper about issues and sometimes he’d say things that he look back and reflect on and realize probably he shouldn’t said that. What we learned is that we pick leaders and we put them in a position where they are publicly exposed and by that exposure the good and bad is going to come out sometimes. ... That is what happened with Glenn, is some of the problems he had with his home life surfaced and it was frankly an embarrassment to all of us.

Q: How should the Legislature police its members?

A: It’s hard to sit there in judgment of your peers. ... We’ve got some complaints that are pending now dealing with the tax issues that we are going to have to do something with. ... I don’t know if it’s better to have someone that is an outside group do the judgment. I think we should stand in judgment of our own peers and people we serve with, frankly. We are capable of doing it. I think we’ll just have to accept that as a responsibility.

Q: Is the state judiciary underfunded?

A: They have taken some major cuts. ... There is a point where we cannot go beyond and that is where we are denying the ability to have the courts function. ... Where that line is drawn is a very debatable issue, but we are getting close to that stage right now. ... So everybody is scratching their head on how we are going to resolve this and I don’t think anybody has got a clear answer yet. ... One of the things ... is people are turning more toward mediation, arbitration, and getting their cases out of the courtroom in large part due to the fact that to get into a courtroom ... you’re not sure how long your case is going to be tied up. ... So people are accepting the fact the way to get quicker resolution is to turn to some other alternative dispute resolution, and that’s a good thing.

Q: What about funding for indigent defense?

A: I am disappointed that we haven’t funded the program as we agreed. ... That was that we had fees tied as court costs dedicated ... for that purpose. And the money has been diverted and what you run into here is the fact that there is not the constitutional fence that we can put around [that money].

Q: Should prostitution be decriminalized for minors?

A: There is a need to say these young children are not out there willingly doing these criminal acts of prostitution. They are compelled for whatever reasons and the thing we need to do is allow the law enforcement to rein these children in to get proper counseling without the stigma of saying you are under arrest. ... It’s a big issue. ... You’re talking 300 children a month in the Atlanta area.

On the record: A weekly event where reporters and editors talk to leaders about key issues for Georgians.

Excerpts from the conversation also can be heard on News/Talk 750 WSB.