Oconee County Observations reported that on Friday, the Judicial Council of Georgia accepted the recommendation that no changes be made to the boundaries of the Western Judicial Circuit, made up of Clarke and Oconee Counties.
Following the election of Democrat Deborah Gonzalez as District Attorney of the Western Judicial Circuit, Watkinsville’s then-Mayor Bob Smith wrote an open letter earlier this year to state legislators asking that Oconee County secede from the Western Circuit to form its own judicial circuit.
State legislators Marcus Wiedower and Houston Gaines then asked the Judicial Council to conduct a study to assess whether the current Circuit could be changed. The study found that Oconee County had too small of a caseload to be its own judicial circuit, and did not recommend a merger with a different circuit.
However, it is still up to the legislature to decide how to act on the recommendation.
WUGA's Jeanne Davis reports:
