A motion to appoint three judicial commissioners failed to garner enough votes from the county commission to pass Monday night.
Third District Commissioner Jack Barton made a motion, seconded by Fifth District Commissioner Anita Puckett, that the county commission accept the three candidates, current Judicial Commissioner Taft Hendrixson, as well as Tammy Ashburn and James Harvey Barnes at one time, rather than one at a time as some commissioners wanted. The measure carried on a voice vote, with three members voting against it.
Then, however, a motion by Barton to appoint the three as recommended by the judicial committee, the failed 7-6, with eight votes required.
Mason Carter, Jeff Barnes, Anita Puckett, Jack Barton, Betty Atnip, Jonathan Norris, and Jimmy Midgett voted in favor of making the appointments as a group, while Kevin Robinson, Larry Summers, Jerry Adcock, Bradley Hendrix, Elmer Ellis, Jr., and Wayne Cantrell voted against appointing the candidates as a group.
The matter will be brought back before the commission in September.
The commission authorized county judicial committee, made up of the General Sessions/Juvenile Court Judge, Sheriff, Circuit Court Clerk, County Mayor, and a representative of the District Attorney General’s Office, to accept and review applications in June and make a recommendation to the commissioners. The committee recently recommended the three for the positions, while two current judicial commissioners, Jerry Taylor and Hoyte Barrett, were not recommended for reappointment. Felisha Oakley, Joan Washer, Richard Mielke, Scotty Colwell, McClure Cantrell, and Sandy Brown also applied for the jobs.