Hart BOC Tables Paying DA Invoice for ADA Traffic Court Services

Hart County Commissioners have tabled a request by Northern Judicial Circuit District Attorney Parks White to reimburse one of his assistant DA’s for their work serving as the prosecutor in traffic court.

On Tuesday, Commissioners balked at an invoice presented by White for $2,700; money White said in a letter to the County dated April 6,  is owed to Assistant District Attorney Adam Wilkinson.

Wilkinson served as prosecutor for traffic offenses in Hart County Probate Court on nine different occasions between July, 2014 and January, 2015 and has not yet been paid for his services.

An additional invoice was sent to the County from Hart County Probate Judge Merry Kirk.  In that invoice, dated March 23 two more court sessions are cited in which Wilkinson served as traffic court prosecutor, bringing the total amount due to $3,300.

But on Tuesday, Commissioners said they were not aware the County paid for a traffic court prosecutor.  County Attorney Walter Gordon explained that the county had historically used a local attorney to serve as solicitor in county traffic court at a rate of $500 per court session until last year when the State Legislature changed the law.

“The State of Georgia passed a law last year that created special provisions for prosecution in traffic court,” Gordon explained. “The law now says that traffic court prosecution is to be handled by the assistant DA and the assistant DA is to be paid by the county at a rate the county determines for that service.”

Commissioner Ricky Carter asked how the DA arrived at the amount of $300 per court session.

“How did the DA come up with that amount if the county government hasn’t set the funds?” Carter asked County Administrator Jon Caime.

“I can send you an invoice for any amount I want, obviously,” Caime said. “But I’m not sure where the $300 came from. That would be a question for the District Attorney. You can see here that there’s been more than one (court session) for several months of times that they have appeared in Probate Court on the prosecution side.”

Commissioner Frankie Teasley asked if the $300 amount could be negotiated, and County administrator Jon Caime said the board would have to speak with the DA on that.

Commissioner Joey Dorsey asked why there was more than one traffic court date listed in a month, but Caime said he was not sure.

Board members also noted there was no line item in their FY15 budget to pay for a prosecutor in Traffic Court, but Caime said it was in the Probate Judge’s budget.

After more discussion, the board voted to table paying the invoice until they could speak with the DA and research the matter further.