Habersham commissioners approve shared funding for part-time juvenile judge

Habersham County commissioners unanimously approved the creation and funding of a part-time juvenile court judge for the Mountain Judicial Circuit on Sept. 16, 2024, authorizing a position supported by $60,164 in annual funding shared among the circuit’s four counties.

The action matters because it establishes a recurring court expense and adds a part-time judicial position serving a circuit that includes Habersham and Banks counties. Rather than a one-time county purchase, the arrangement ties the participating counties to a continuing cost-sharing structure for juvenile-court staffing.

The judge post reached the Board of Commissioners as a proposal to create and fund a part-time Mountain Judicial Circuit position. At the Sept. 16 meeting, the minutes record a motion and second followed by a unanimous vote approving the position and its funding, moving the matter beyond the proposed stage.

Habersham’s commissioners acted on behalf of a county participating in the circuit-wide agreement. The arrangement also involves the other three counties in the Mountain Judicial Circuit, including Banks County, because the annual funding is to be divided among all four. The minutes identify the shared-cost model but do not specify each county’s dollar share.

The board’s approval and the $60,164 annual funding figure are documented. What remains unestablished in the cited material is how the cost was allocated county by county, whether the funds were later placed in a budget, who—if anyone—was appointed to the part-time post, and when that person began serving.

The next public record residents can look for is a later board, budget, court or appointment document showing how the approved funding arrangement was carried out. Until such a record identifies the allocation and the person serving, the post’s operating details remain undecided or unreported in the material cited here.