Members of the Henry County legislative delegation have filed house bill 786 to create a fourth judgeship in the Flint Judicial Circuit Superior Court. The Flint circuit consists entirely of Henry County.
As of January 28, the bill has been assigned to the house judiciary committee. It has not yet been scheduled before committee.
Discussion about adding a fourth judge has been ongoing for several years, and commissioners adopted a letter of support for its creation in February 2019.
In September, Superior Court Judge Brian Amero shared with the BOC that the Judicial Council of Georgia had prioritized the Flint circuit judgeship as the number two request across the state. Amero was optimistic about the judgeship being fulfilled by the Georgia General Assembly.
If the bill is approved and signed into law by the governor, the first judge to hold the seat would be appointed by Governor Kemp and begin his or her tenure in January 2021. The first election for the seat would follow in 2023 before regular four-year terms would apply from that point forward.
