A state commission’s decision to move a judgeship from Jefferson County to Madison County faces new opposition.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama, and the Glasscox Law firm wrote Gov. Kay Ivey today urging her not to appoint a judge for the Madison County slot, saying the move is unconstitutional.
The organizations said only the Legislature has the authority to change the number of judgeships in a judicial circuit under the Alabama Constitution.
The letter says Ivey is scheduled to interview three candidates for the Madison County vacancy.
“We respectfully request that you refrain from taking any steps to fill this unconstitutionally reallocated judicial position,” the organizations wrote.
Gina Maiola, communications director for Ivey, said when asked about the letter: “The appointment process for this judgeship remains ongoing.”
(You can read the letter at the end of this story.)
The Judicial Resources Allocation Commission, created by the Legislature in 2017, voted in June to move the circuit court seat from Jefferson County to fast-growing Madison County based on a caseload study.
The study showed Jefferson County, with 27 circuit judges, had a surplus, and Madison County, with seven, had a shortage.
The Legislature created the Judicial Resources Allocation Commission to annually review the need for judgeships by circuit and to advise the governor and lawmakers. The legislation creating the commission also says it has the authority to transfer judgeships when vacancies arise. The 12-member commission includes the Supreme Court chief justice, who serves as chair, the legal advisor to the governor, the attorney general, three circuit judges, three district judges, and three attorneys.
The seat in question came open when Jefferson Circuit Judge Clyde Jones resigned on June 1, seven months before his term ends in January. Eight days later, the Judicial Resources Allocation Commission voted to move the seat Jones vacated to Madison County.
The move drew opposition that day. Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, former chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, spoke out against the transfer, saying the Legislature had enough money available in the General Fund to fill judgeship needs without taking one from Jefferson County. Smitherman also said the caseload numbers in the study were skewed.
Before Jones resigned, Tiara Young Hudson was in line to assume the judgeship in Birmingham when Jones’ term ended. Hudson won the Democratic nomination in May and had no Republican opponent in the general election.
Today’s letter from the ACLU, SPLC, and Glasscox law firm supports the arguments of those opposing the transfer.
According to the letter, all the commission votes in support of the transfer were from white members, while all the Black commission members opposed the move.
“Its effect is to strip a majority-Black county of a critical resource and to give that resource to a majority-white county,” the letter says. The transfer would be the first authorized by the commission since it was created by the Legislature.
“The Alabama Constitution vests the legislature with the exclusive power to alter the number of judges serving in each circuit,” the letter says. “JRAC’s unconstitutional exercise of that authority renders its transfer of the Jefferson County judgeship null and void. We urge you to refrain from appointing a judge to serve in the unconstitutionally transferred seat and to instead appoint a judge to fill the vacancy in Jefferson County from among the three people recommended to you by the Jefferson County Judicial Commission.”
The organizations say Amendments 83 and 110 to the Alabama Constitution spell out the process for filling a judicial vacancy in Jefferson County.
“Those amendments specify that, when judicial vacancies arise in Jefferson County, the Jefferson County Judicial Commission (“JCJC”) nominates three qualified individuals, one of whom the Governor selects for appointment,” the letter says. “That appointee then holds office until the next general election occurring at least six months after the vacancy arises—in this case, until November 5, 2024.”
Under those provisions, the JCJC issued a notice that it was accepting applications for nominees for the vacancy, the letter says.
“JRAC, however, stepped in to frustrate this constitutional process,” the letter says.
WHNT reported that the three Madison County candidates are Madison County District judge Patrick Tuten, Huntsville attorney Ron Smith, and Meteasa Collins-Henderson, a family law attorney with Legal Services of North-Central Alabama.
