Overton Searching For Judicial Commissioners

Overton County is looking to fill two part-time, on-call judicial commissioner positions to support local law enforcement outside normal working hours.

County Executive Steven Barlow said judicial commissioners fill in for the court clerk when it is closed for services like issuing warrants, setting bonds, and granting temporary orders for protection. Barlow said they are looking for applicants because they lost two judicial commissioners in the past year, making the job more difficult for those who remain.

“It makes it hard if you have one or two, but if you have, you know, three of four people it spreads out and when you’re on call you might have some more time off or you’re not working as much,” Barlow said. “And it just allows it to roll smoothly.”

Barlow said the responsibility of judicial commissioners is not only to understand how local and state laws work, but to be fair and open-minded with both the public and law enforcement. Barlow said people can submit their resume.

“Just come in and ask for one (application) and we’ll put you on file,” Barlow said. “If we’re not hiring right now, you know, we’ll keep you in mind for a later date.”

Barlow said that judicial commissioners must be re-appointed annually but it is normal for them to keep the position for multiple years.

“It’s a hard job sometimes, to wake up at 2:00am in the morning to come in and issue a summons, so it just takes a special person to do something like that,” Barlow said.

Barlow said judicial commissioners work under the county’s general sessions judge, but they do not work specifically for the judge or the sheriff.