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Circuit Court Division II Judge David Duggan is enjoying the transition to his new job but also knows there are challenges ahead.

"I'm enjoying it," Duggan said. "It hasn't come as a surprise, but I also see that I've got a lot to do just to get ready to go into the courtroom. It's exciting."

For the past week, Duggan has been learning what he needs to know to function effectively as a circuit court judge. He's making arrangements to acquire trial transcripts to prepare upcoming sentencing and post-conviction relief hearings and attending to the endless administrative details of changing to the new position.

"Eventually, we will catch up, but on the front-end that is just part of the job," he said.

The Division II judgeship primarily hears criminal matters. He took office last week after beating out interim Judge Michael H. Meares in the Aug. 7 general election.

He has some priorities for the next year. "There is the challenge of taking Drug Court in a new direction," he said. "It's good that starts when I'm first starting out ... I want to get to work immediately on the Drug Court self-evaluation and trying to get a director back."

The Blount County Drug Court, located on the 3rd floor of the Justice Center, provides supervision and substance abuse treatment for adult non-violent offenders as means to break the cycle of crime and addiction. Duggan wants the program to gain certification. He also wants to find more funding sources.

"The Drug Court director's position was taken out of the budget," he said. "We need a director, but the money is now gone. We are going to have to try to get funds back in the budget for a director, but I feel that money won't necessarily come from the county."

Duggan said there may be enough money to be found in the existing budget to hire a part-time director by the end of this fiscal year.

The judge said that he is especially interested in supporting the treatment portion of the program.

"The key component in my opinion is treatment," he said. "In Drug Court you're not dealing with someone who can necessarily change ... because they decide to. Wanting to move past your addiction is important, but it's not enough. You need treatment."

Local rules 'fine'

One component of the Circuit Court that came under scrutiny during the election season was the local rules. Judge Meares had issued an order calling the "Presiding Judge" section of the local rules into question, claiming the section includes language giving authority to the presiding judge outside of the law, and declared it void altogether.

Duggan said the rules are fine.

"I've talked with Judge (W. Dale) Young and Chancellor (Telford) Forgety about our local rules," he said. "The three of us think our local rules are just fine. We're intending to address that matter very soon."

Duggan's first actual day on the bench as a Circuit Court judge was Monday. He had spent time the previous week attending a Drug Court conference in Nashville.

Previously, Duggan had served as judge for the Blount County General Sessions Court, Section IV, from January 2005 until the end of August. He practiced as a Blount County attorney for nearly 18 years before being elected. His clients included the city of Alcoa and two local school boards.

The transition to the new court has been successful because the help of everyone from the district attorney general and the public defender down to maintenance staff, Duggan said.

"Everyone who is part of the system has been helpful," he said. "I appreciate it."