The Georgia House voted Wednesday to create a legislative committee with unprecedented subpoena powers to investigate the state’s judicial watchdog agency.
The Judicial Qualifications Commission has received accolades for its efforts to weed out misbehaving judges, and more than five dozen judges have resigned since 2007 after JQC investigations.
But state lawmakers, including one who resigned his judgeship after a JQC investigation, are pushing to overhaul the commission, saying it has “lost credibility.” They say there are several examples of JQC misconduct but have focused on the case last year of a now retired DeKalb County Superior Court judge who was indicted but later cleared of charges she lied to the commission.
House Resolution 1363, which the House passed 165-2 on Wednesday, would allow a seven-member committee appointed by Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, to subpoena witnesses and documents and take sworn testimony as part of its investigation of the JQC. The resolution setting up the committee of House members requires no further votes.
Two other pieces of legislation — including a proposed constitutional amendment to shift three JQC appointments from the State Bar of Georgia to the governor, lieutenant governor and House speaker — cleared the chamber earlier in the week.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Wendell Willard, R-Sandy Springs, the resolution's sponsor, told colleagues Wednesday that creation of the committee is "an extraordinary step" needed to ensure that the JQC is operating "in the bounds of what is considered proper due process."
The JQC was created in 1972 to investigate potential misconduct by judges, including Johnnie Caldwell Jr. of the Griffin Judicial Circuit. Caldwell left the bench in 2010 after facing accusations he made rude, sexually suggestive comments to a female attorney. He then won a seat in the state House two years later.
Caldwell is co-sponsoring two of the three JQC bills and has voted for all three.
The State Bar of Georgia opposes the proposed constitutional amendment to eliminate its appointments to the JQC, Bar President Robert J. “Bob” Kauffman said.
“I understand there are a lot of concerns regarding the JQC, but we believe that our appointees have served the commission with integrity,” Kauffman said.
He said the State Bar will await the outcome of the House special committee’s investigation.
Kauffman said the State Bar “will support any improvements that can be made, as I am sure the other stakeholders will as well.”
The special committee will have until Dec. 1 to complete its investigation. But it is expected to be completed earlier since the proposed constitutional amendment, if approved by the Senate, would be on the ballot in November.
The seven-member JQC currently has two judges selected by the state Supreme Court; three lawyers, each with at least 10 years of experience, appointed by the State Bar of Georgia; and two Georgia residents who are appointed by the governor and can’t be members of the State Bar.
Under the changes being proposed, the State Bar loses its three appointments — one to the House speaker, one to the lieutenant governor and a third to the governor.
The state Supreme Court retains its two appointments to the JQC, which in 2014 was awarded the Georgia First Amendment Foundation’s Charles L. Weltner Freedom of Information Award for aggressively reinforcing the importance of open judicial proceedings.
Willard has cited as evidence that the JQC has “lost credibility” the case of now retired DeKalb Superior Court Judge Cynthia Becker.
Becker was indicted on allegations that she lied to the JQC about her handling of the criminal case against former DeKalb County School Superintendent Crawford Lewis. The charges were later dropped.
Willard said Becker, who had already announced her retirement, thought she was going before the JQC on another complaint when the commission started questioning her about the Lewis school construction case.
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