Mountain Judicial Circuit Court Looks to Add More Public Defense

Last Tuesday, the Rabun County Board of Commissioners held their monthly meeting to discuss a number of topics. One item that was added to the agenda was to motion adding another public defender to the Mountain Judicial Circuit Court’s office.

Commissioner Stephen Arbitter says that the circuit is understaffed and under worked, and that adding another public defender would be beneficial.

In order to fund a new public defender, the Mountain Judicial Circuit, which represents Habersham, Stephens, and Rabun Counties, needs assistance from the counties it represents, based on population. For Rabun County, they were asked to pay 13% of the requested amount, or $8,000. The commission motioned to hold off on making a decision, as there was low attendance at the meeting due to Thanksgiving, because of the lack of opinions that could be given. The commissioners want to wait until January to make a motion, because it will be closer to the fiscal year budget meetings.

With Habersham County being the largest in the district population wise, they were asked to pay $22,000, while Stephens County was asked to pay $13,500