Joey Stewart Chosen as Municipal Judge

The Olney City Council voted Oct. 13 to appoint Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace Joey Stewart as the city’s new municipal judge, filling the position left vacant by last month’s retirement of Judge Stan Mahler after 18 years of service.

Judge Stewart, who was present in the council chamber, will serve as both Justice of the Peace and municipal judge. Council members praised Mr. Mahler’s long service and thanked Judge Stewart for stepping into the role.

Before making the appointment, the council discussed whether to convert Olney’s municipal court into a court of record, a change that would have expanded the court’s authority but also require that the judge be a licensed attorney.

Assitant City Attorney Dan Branum said that becoming a court of record would end the practice of trial de novo appeals, where defendants who lose in municipal court can take their case to county court for a complete retrial. “Even if you go through a full-blown jury trial and get a guilty verdict, the person can appeal it to county court and get a complete redo,” Mr. Branum said. “If you’re a court of record, they don’t get a redo. They have to show the judge made a legal error.”

Mr. Branum also noted that courts of record have enhanced authority in matters like nuisance abatement, demolition of unsafe buildings, and junk vehicle enforcement. These are code enforcement issues that Olney has strug- gled with due to a lack of manpower to complete the lengthy condemnation process. “It basically gives a lot more teeth to our court,” he told council members.

Mr. Branum cautioned that the attorney requirement “is the biggest downside” since Olney would have fewer candidates to choose from and might have to bring in an out-of-town attorney.

Councilmember Ronnie Cowert expressed concern about limiting the pool of candidates, saying, “The issue I can see with that is finding an attorney… I feel like they need somebody that’s handy that we can [call on].”

Councilmember Thea Sullivan said the only benefit of the change would be to make demolitions smoother, but otherwise agreed the city’s current process works.

Mayor Rue Rogers concluded, “Since we don’t have a current municipal judge, this is the time to discuss and research it. But if there’s no conviction to go that route, then let’s just consider appointment of a municipal court judge.”

With consensus to remain a non-record court, the council considered two candidates for municipal judge: Judge Stewart and First Baptist Church of Olney pastor Chad Edgington, who also works as an attorney. Both were praised as qualified, but the council voted unanimously to appoint Judge Stewart.

After the vote, Mayor Rogers congratulated Judge Stewart: “Thank you for your willingness to do it and availability to do it. We look forward to working with you.”

Judge Stewart said he was “thankful” for the opportunity to serve.