A meeting of all Oconee lower court judges

Chief Magistrate Todd Simmons says he is calling a meeting this month of all Oconee County judges below the circuit level for a discussion of the Chief Justice’s recent directive that has caused ripples among those who wear the robe.  The county’s magistrates and the county’s municipal judges are being asked to congregate November 27 for a reading and understanding of Chief Justice Donald Beatty’s September memo that addresses Beatty’s belief that defendants’ constitutional rights are violated if they are jailed by judges before the defendants have access to legal counsel.