Judge orders two attorneys to testify on local rules

By Mark Boxley
of The Daily Times Staff

Blount County Circuit Judge Mike Meares filed an order Friday to compel two local attorneys to appear before him on June 6 to testify about the 2007 adoption of the local judicial rules.

According to the order, Meares examined "certain documents presented in open court" after ordering them from three local attorneys on May 10. The documents requested by Meares included "correspondence to or from the Blount County Circuit or Chancery Courts or any of their judges or clerks about local rules."

They were presented to him during a May 12 hearing.

"The court has reviewed such documents and from that examination it appears that the published local rules may have been adopted in an irregular manner and contrary to the provisions of Rule 18, Rules of the Supreme Court (of Tennessee)," Friday's order says.

Meares' order calls for attorneys Melanie Davis and Rob Goddard to appear at 9 a.m. June 6, to provide additional information by way of testimony.

The rules govern the administration of the Blount County Circuit and Chancery Courts. The order cites a letter from Circuit Judge W. Dale Young sent on July 19, 2006.

In the letter Young "appears" to have "requested the president of the local bar association to 'appoint a committee of the bar to suggest proposed local rules ...'" the order says. "Judge Young's letter explained: 'By having the Bar suggest proposed rules, we can avoid publication for comment by the Bar and then the AOC (Administrative Office of the Courts) will publish the rules for comment by the general public before they are formally adopted.'"

Davis, who was appointed chairperson of a committee to recommend the proposed rules, sent a letter with the draft to Young on Sept. 18, 2006, Meares' order says.

That draft differs from the final document, which was formally adopted on April 30, 2007, in that a section titled "Presiding Judge" was added, the order says. And while the recommendation from the local bar association -- put together by Davis and Goddard, according to the order -- differs from the final draft, "the April 30, 2007, order adopting the local rules clearly states however that the rules are made 'Pursuant to the recommendation of The Local Rules Committee of the Blount County Bar Association and with the consent of the Circuit Judges...'"

Section 2 of the adopted local rules states: "Presiding Judge -- Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1., above, the Presiding Judge of the Fifth Judicial District shall have the duties and responsibilities imposed upon such judge as provided by the statutes and shall oversee the administration and be the final arbiter of the case load for the Fifth Judicial District, to include the designation of the judges to hear civil and criminal cases."

Young is the presiding judge over the 5th Judicial District Circuit Court.

The order said Davis and Goddard's testimony Friday is to "provide the court additional information in the form of testimony with respect to the apparent discrepancy between the proposed rules and the adopted rules and produce to the court any further relevant available documents relative to the April 30, 2007 incorporation of paragraph '2' into the local rules.

"It is further ordered that said attorneys be prepared to address when this discrepancy in the local rules was first brought to their attention and what action, if any, they have taken to call this matter to the attention of other committee members, members of the bar or the court," the order said.

When contacted by The Daily Times Friday, Goddard said the draft of the local rules sent to Young was simply a recommendation, and that the judges can choose to change them if they want. "They're their rules," he said of the judges. "They don't even have to consult us (the local bar association).

"The rules belong to the judges, not the bar," he said.

Goddard said he does not believe there is any discrepancy dealing with the local rules.