Gwinnett County's newest judge, sworn in Jan. 6, already is causing a controversy in the courthouse.
The county is auditing all the prior invoices from Recorder's Court Judge Rodney Harris after questions surfaced about more than $1 million in bills he submitted while serving as a court-appointed attorney between 2005 and 2010.
To make that much money, he would have had to average the equivalent of two and a half full-time jobs some of the time.
People who frequent the courthouse know Harris was one of the busiest indigent defense attorneys when he was working in juvenile court.
Yet last year Harris billed the county for $181,774, significantly more than the next highest paid defense attorney, Wesley Person, who made $113,720, according to data from the Gwinnett County Office of Court Administration.
In 2008, Harris billed the county $240,000. That's about $83,000 more than the next highest paid indigent defense lawyer, Stacy Levy, who received $157, 128.
That was considered particularly unusual because Harris handled mostly misdemeanors, for which indigent defense attorneys, who represent the poor, are paid $45 to $55 an hour. Levy handled serious felony cases, for which attorneys are paid $75 an hour.
Harris did not return calls to his office last week and Tuesday seeking comment.
Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter said he has made preliminary inquiries into the matter, and is awaiting the results of a county audit before determining whether to start an investigation. Porter, who draws an annual salary of $164,000, said he hasn't discounted the possibility the allegations could be politically motivated.
"There is a discrepancy, but until we have the results it's impossible to tell if there has been any misconduct," Porter said.
David Lipscomb, who heads the Indigent Defense Governing Committee, said the workload Harris would have to shoulder to bill those kinds of hours is unlikely but not impossible.
For example, in 2008 -- apparently one of Harris' busiest years -- he would have had to average working 92 hours a week to clear $240,000. That's calculated at the average rate for juvenile court work, which is about $50 an hour.
It's possible Harris could have been working in juvenile court during both morning and evening sessions, Lipscomb said.
"If you work 100 [hours] a week, you're working 2.5 jobs," Lipscomb said. "We don't really see any invoices that appear to be out of line, but there are quite a number of them and that's unusual."
Lipscomb said the county expects to wrap up its inquiry within a few months.
Rodney Harris bills to Gwinnett County for indigent defense
Year / Billed amount
2007 / $108,067
2008 / $240,090
2009 / $186,268
2010 / $181,774
Total 2005-2010: $1,092, 291
Source: Gwinnett County
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