Commissioner asks staff to prepare resolution seeking an additional district court judge for Union County

Commissioner Gary Saads asked the Union County Board of Commissioners on Feb. 18 to direct staff to prepare a resolution requesting the General Assembly fund an additional district court judge for the county.

Saads said his review — prompted by concerns about jail bottlenecks and court processing times — showed that Union County has one district court judge for roughly every 51,290 residents, a higher ratio than several neighboring counties. He told the board Cabarrus County (population below Union’s) has roughly one judge per 40,000 residents and Gaston County one judge per about 33,891 residents. Saads said the lead district court judge, Judge Hux, reached out to him and described the district court workload formula but was unable to obtain an updated version of that formula beyond data from 2020.

Why it matters: Saads said additional district court capacity could reduce time to disposition for some cases and could relieve jail length-of-stay pressures for defendants awaiting court action. Commissioners discussed courtroom and office capacity; staff told the board there is one available office for a judge and existing courtrooms could be scheduled to accommodate an additional district court judge.

Next steps: Saads asked staff (Jason and others) to prepare a draft resolution for the board to send to the General Assembly delegation asking for funding and authorization of an additional district court judge for Union County. He also said he would distribute the materials he received from Judge Hux to fellow commissioners. The board agreed to gather more information and to include the request among legislative priorities if the board wished.