Must name replacement by end of October, but future of position rides on Nov. 5 ballot
By Morgan Rothborne, Ashland.news
Qualified applicants to become judge of the city of Ashland’s municipal court are asked to send a letter of interest and a resume to the city recorder by the new, extended deadline of Oct. 1, City Manager Sabrina Cotta said in a news release Wednesday.
Those who would be willing to serve in the $74,366 a year position must be licensed to practice law in the state of Oregon and able to appear in person, limiting the range of the city’s applicant search, Cotta said.
The applicant would also have to be prepared for uncertainty as council unanimously voted to add a ballot measure in November asking voters if the municipal judge should be an elected official or a position filled through an application process, as previously reported by Ashland.news.
“The timing is tricky,” Cotta said.
Elected Municipal Judge Pamela Turner resigned from her position effective Aug. 30, triggering a job opening with set parameters from the city’s charter, according to an agenda item at the Aug. 6 City Council business meeting. The city must find and appoint a new judge within 60 days of the opening.
“Thus far we haven’t had any interest come through,” Cotta said.
Further information on the position and the city’s municipal court can be found on the city’s website. Qualifications include a juris doctor degree from an accredited law school and a minimum of five to seven years of legal experience. Prior experience as judge or justice of the peace is preferred.
The city has kept additional judges on retainer as contractors to assist in meeting the city’s legal needs and their services are being used now to keep the court running while the position of municipal judge remains open.
The city is waiting to hear the will of voters for the position’s future, she said. If the public votes to keep the judge as an elected official, the city will have to find a judge to appoint after the election. If there are no willing appointees, the charter does not provide guidance on how to proceed in this situation, Cotta said.
A vote to keep the judge an elected position will also affect the salary of the position due to a 1970’s charter amendment.
“The salary of the Municipal Judge will initially be the same as for the year 1978-79 and thereafter to be adjusted in the same percentage as the average salary adjustment of the other supervisory employees and department heads of the City of Ashland,” according to Article III, section 3 of the Ashland City Charter.
The charter dictates the judge is to serve a four-year term and, while Cotta stated that while the city manager has the authority to set the operations of the court, the judge “answers to the people” and has discretion on whether or not they are willing to go along with those operational standards. Judge Turner opened court on Tuesdays at the end of her time in office, as previously reported by Ashland.news.
If the city fails to attract a qualified applicant for the position, Cotta stated a judge previously serving as a contractor will be asked to fulfill the position on a temporary basis.
Email Ashland.news reporter Morgan Rothborne at morganr@ashland.news.
Related story: Ashland City Council to ask voters to approve appointing instead of electing municipal judge (Aug. 9)
