Candidates for the probate court judge seat didn’t say much about a possible state probe into the office during the final forum Thursday night.

Beth Rahn Mosley, Richard Rafter and Judy Suhor are running for the seat left vacant by Frances Seckinger’s retirement and had their final public chance to sway voters at the Effingham County Board of Education auditorium.

“I can’t say what’s going on with a (Georgia Bureau of Investigation) investigation,” Rafter said. “There is some concern about accountability. The probate court deals with a lot of cash. One person writes the checks, one person signs the checks and it’s the same person who reconciles the accounts. From a business standpoint, that’s not acceptable.”

Suhor wondered how Rafter knew so much about the operation of the court.

“I do not know who writes the checks and reconciles the accounts in his office,” she said.

Suhor said the office has a computer program that is run at the end of every day, and the accounts must balance.
Rafter said he looked at one of the audits and that there was nothing to show where the accounts had been audited by anyone outside of the office.

“Every single checking account, the regular fund, the records fund, each and every single check book and stub was turned over to the auditor, and (they) left me with the idea there was no impropriety,” Suhor said. “I have never been told in the 10 years I have been there  that there has been any discrepancy.”

Suhor, who has been with the probate court for 10 years, had been chief clerk under Seckinger and has been running the office since Seckinger’s retirement in April.

“My fellow judges have confidence in my ability,” Suhor said. “Even as an attorney, they would not have been exposed to the training I have received.”

Rafter, a 2002 graduate of John Marshall Law School, is a partner in the law firm of Ratchford and Rafter.

“I am the best qualified candidate for probate court judge,” he said.

Rafter also pointed to his business background before entering the legal profession, having managed more than 100 employees and budgets of more than $31 million, he said.

“I have argued before the Supreme Court of Georgia,” he said. “I think my background allows me to be able to interpret the law, research the law and apply the law based on the facts before the court. The probate court is a business and a court and I have more than 30 years of business experience.”

Mosley, a lifelong Effingham County resident, has a degree in social work from the University of Georgia and is a longtime realtor.

“I know this county,” she said. “I’ve knocked on many doors.”

The probate court handles such issues as birth and death certificates, marriage licenses and weapons permits. The court also handles the probate of wills, administration of estates, appointment of guardians and the involuntary hospitalization of incapacitated adults.

“It is unique and diverse,” Suhor said. “I know this job.”

Mosley said being an attorney is not necessary in order to be a probate judge and she became interested in the position when she tried to get guardianship of her brother-in-law, who was stricken with Huntington’s disease.
She also said she will post her schedule on the probate court Web site and place her cell number for citizens to call her. She also would like to have an area on the site where people could ask her questions.

Mosley, who will give up her real estate practice if elected, also asked Rafter if he would continue to practice law. Rafter said he would retain his attorney’s license but give up private practice.