Council approves municipal court of record ordinance and reappoints presiding judge

Murphy City Council unanimously approved an ordinance amending Article 12.02 of the Murphy Code of Ordinances to designate the municipal court as a court of record, and later reappointed Cass Robert Calloway as presiding judge.

City staff said the primary operational change is a requirement to create formal records and transcripts of proceedings, which staff and the presiding judge called a modest but important expansion of local authority. "Really, the only difference is it requires our court to create a formal record and transcript of the proceedings," a city staff presenter told the council. Presiding Judge Cass Calloway said the move would allow the court to assist police investigations and help neighboring municipalities when needed: "The court is, in a very good place right now," he said, praising the court administrator's leadership.

Council also unanimously approved resolutions to reappoint associate municipal judges Ashley McSwain and Dana Huffman and authorized the mayor to execute professional services agreements for those judicial duties. Staff described the court transition as operationally feasible with existing staff and equipment, and said the change increases the court's ability to handle certain search-warrant and investigatory processes that require a court-of-record backing.

The ordinance passed on a voice vote with the assembly recorded as "Aye," and the subsequent judge reappointments also passed unanimously. Council did not record individual named votes in the public transcript.