Orange, Chatham might get new judge Read the entire story at
http://www.heraldsun.com//chatham/13-749711.html By BETH VELLIQUETTE : The Herald-Sun
bvelliquette@heraldsun.comJul 3, 2006 : 6:07 pm ET
HILLSBOROUGH -- If the General Assembly formally passes its budget this week as expected, the courts in Orange and Chatham counties will be the beneficiaries of a new district judge.
With an eye on always busy court dockets, the Legislature intends to fund 17 new district-court judges throughout North Carolina. District 15-B, which includes Orange and Chatham, was high on the list as needing another judge, said Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, a Democrat from Carrboro.
"The Administrative Office of the Courts said they wanted nine to 12 new judges," Kinnaird said Monday. "We ended up with 17, and Orange and Chatham have been on the list from the very beginning. We were very pleased that we had enough money to get 17 judges in [all]."
District 15-B now has four district court judges -- Chief Judge Joe Buckner, Charles Anderson, Alonzo Coleman and Pat DeVine.
They are assigned to work in courtrooms in Hillsborough, Chapel Hill, Pittsboro, Siler City and UNC Hospitals, where they hold commitment hearings each Friday.
In 2005, the judges handled some 9,000 non-vehicle criminal misdemeanors and 1,500 to 1,600 driving-while-impaired cases in District 15-B, Buckner said.
