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Senate advances bill to add sixth Clayton County judgeship after judges and DA cite heavy caseload
Summary
Lawmakers moved SB327 to provide a sixth superior‑court judgeship to Clayton Judicial Circuit after judges and the district attorney testified the circuit carries the state's highest workload and a large backlog of murder and felony cases.
The Judiciary Committee unanimously advanced Senate Bill 327 to create a sixth superior‑court judgeship for the Clayton Judicial Circuit after local judges and the district attorney described an overloaded docket and lengthy case backlogs.
Senator Parent, the bill’s sponsor, told the committee an administrative workload review produced an objective workload value of 1.38 for Clayton, the highest in the state, but that timing and clerical errors in submitted data had previously kept Clayton from qualifying for a judgeship. The sponsor urged the legislature to act because the corrected numbers confirm the need.
Judge Aaron Mason and Clayton County District Attorney Tasha Mosley testified in support, describing dozens of pending murder indictments, frequent multi‑defendant trials and pressure on court calendars. Mosley said the circuit has more than two dozen unindicted murder cases and that judges are managing unusually high numbers of violent felonies.
The committee approved a conforming amendment to move the bill’s effective date to 2027 and passed the bill unanimously, while acknowledging that funding and appropriation details remain to be resolved during the budget process.
