Meares campaign reacts to local rules controversy

By Joel Davis
of The Daily Times Staff

The Meares campaign has stepped into the fray.

Richard F. Cox, chairman of Committee to Elect Judge Meares, took on questions about Circuit Court Judge Mike Meares’ desire to change local court rules in a Thursday press release.

“Any action taken by an office-holder in an election year will be labeled as ‘political’ by his or her opponents,” Cox said. “This is par for the course in today’s political arena. As a sitting Blount County judge, Mike Meares has an obligation to do his job and take care of the business of the court whether or not it hurts or interferes with his election campaign. Do we really expect or want our elected officials to stop performing their duties during an election season?”

“Judge Meares’ request for a local court rule change was meant to accomplish one thing: to give the people of Blount County fair and potentially faster access to the courts. Rather than simply ‘cherry picking; additional cases, as was suggested by another local judge, he wants an objective and systematic process for assigning cases from one judge to another.”

In an April 11 letter to Blount County Bar Association President Stephen Ogle, Meares asked that the Bar Association form or reconvene a Local Rules Committee to amend the local rules that govern the administration of Circuit Court.

“Rather than approach the long standing division between the civil and criminal dockets on an ad hoc basis, I would hope that the bar could assist the court in amending the local rules to provide for a simple systematic approach to this matter,” Meares wrote. “Perhaps all that is needed would be an amendment allowing counsel set for trial in Division I or Chancery to submit an agreed order for a hearing by interchange in Division II when their clients’ second, third or fourth trial setting in the other court division appeared to be destined for a continuance.”

The Bar Association’s response to the request, approved at its May 7 meeting, was noncommittal. State law leaves final authority over the rules to the judges themselves. There was some discussion among members of the Bar Association about whether changes to the rules would appear politically motivated, given that Meares is currently running for re-election. He will face General Sessions Judge David Duggan in the August general election.

Just days after the Bar Association meeting, Meares issued orders for attorneys Melanie Davis, David Black, Rob Goddard, and Stephen Ogle to appear before him on May 10 with “correspondence to or from the Blount County Circuit or Chancery Courts or any of their judges or clerks about Local Rules.”

Several of the attorneys involved have commented that the request was unusual, not being connected to any actual case.

“Judge Meares’ requested from local attorneys documents pertaining to an earlier recommendation from the Bar Association so he could compare it to actual rule changes implemented in the Blount County courts, which are public record,” Cox said. “This is a simple and logical request consistent within his sworn duties as a Blount County judge, and one of his direct responsibilities as a public servant and an officer of the court.\