Effingham County Chief Magistrate Judge Scott Hinson recently completed 80 hours of certification training as required by the state.  

Judge Hinson studied the basics of civil and criminal procedures with approximately 30 other new judges from Georgia. The training consisted of a 40-hour criminal procedures class, held Feb. 22-27, and 40-hour civil procedure class, held Aug. 30-Sept. 4. Both classes were conducted at the Center for Continuing Education in Athens.

“These intensive classes have provided me with an excellent foundation for my role as judicial officer,” Hinson said. “My objective is to meet the judicial needs of the residents of Effingham County by making rulings that are both appropriate and fair. Most judges in the certification classes were, like me, from rural counties in Georgia where magistrate judges hear various types of cases. I do not have the luxury of specializing in one area of judicial practice; I must be competent to adjudicate all cases that fall within the jurisdiction of the magistrate court.”

The certification program included an intensive curriculum that included both substantive law and judicial procedures on topics such as creditors’ remedies, landlord/tenant cases, appeals, search and seizure, warrants and domestic violence.

The classes also provided learning experiences outside the classroom through real-time courtroom observations followed by debriefings with the sitting judges. This mandated training was provided by the Institute of Continuing Judicial Education.