Montgomery Board of Commissioners Delay Merger of Magistrate and Probate Courts

The Montgomery County Board of Commissioners opted to postpone the decision to combine the local magistrate and probate courts during their monthly meeting on Dec. 8 in the Montgomery County Government Annex.

The Board primarily considered merging the two courts as a cost saving measure. According to Board Member Amie Vassey, the courts cost the county approximately $40,000 annually.

The board was presented with two options for merging the two courts: one option, preferred by Commissioner Leland Adams, would delay the merger for three years, setting the merge for 2029, while the second option, preferred by Vassey, would begin the merger in 2027, the earliest possible date. The financial difference between the two options would total $80,000, as the county would still have to pay for the two courts in 2026.

“I know Leland has previously mentioned that he was interested in the delayed start from a fairness perspective and trying to help our employees out, but I’m more interested in the cost savings or what the two scenarios look like from a costs perspective,” Vassey said.

Montgomery County Chief Magistrate Ashley Thornton attended the board’s work session to inform them of the logistics a potential merger would entail. According to Thornton, the county’s main avenue for savings would be through judge salaries, but the merger would incur other costs due to the inherent workload of the two courts.

“I know numbers seem way more important,” said Thornton. “I also know we’re not a 25,000 plus population county, either.”

While Vassey cited other similarly sized counties which have merged their magistrate and probate courts, Thornton argued those county courts had larger staffs to better distribute the work loads which Montgomery County does not.

Ultimately, the board opted to delay the decision regarding the merger, opting instead to discuss further with judges to determine the best course of action.

The board considered open seats on the Montgomery County Tax Assessor Board, the Montgomery County Development Authority Board and the Heart of Georgia Regional Commission.

For the Tax Assessor Board, one applicant applied; the current seat holder, Justin Fountain, who was seeking a reappointment, and the Board of Commissioners agreed to reappoint him. The board received three applicants for the seat on the Development Authority Board, and decided to select Jan Warnock Moore for the position.

The board received no applicants for the Heart of Georgia Regional Commission seat, and so could not vote on the matter. Vassey suggested the Board could look to improve its advertising methods for positions in the future.

“I don’t think our citizens knew this was open,” said Vassey. “I know I did not, and so I do feel like we can do better.”

County Manager Heather Scott also presented the Board with a resolution to amend the budget for fiscal year 2024 in preparation for an audit. According to Scott, these amendments were not necessarily to correct errors, but to account for unexpected payments the county received, such as FEMA reimbursements for repairs following Hurricane Helene.

The board accepted the resolution, but the vote was not unanimous.

The board also considered two contracts: one for local Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and one for solid waste work. The board approved its new contract for EMS, though will discuss with local cities to potentially contribute to that contract.

Vassey recused herself from commenting or voting on the solid waste contract, as one of the three bid options and current contract holder, Republic Services, is also her employer. However, the board elected to award the contract to Smith’s Roll Offs instead.

When considering the holiday and meeting schedules for 2026, Vassey asked the board to consider adding Dec. 31 and April 3 with paid time off to the holiday schedule for employees. The other board members agreed to add Good Friday to the schedule but rejected the suggestion for Dec. 31.

“New Year’s Eve, I will say, based on other counties, [they] have never given,” said Scott.

The board also reviewed the Nov. 2025 financial report, delivered by Scott. According to the report, the county earned 79.7 percent of its projected revenue, while the county’s total expenditures totaled 83.8 percent of its budget of $5,794,561.12.

In individual expenditures, general government costs have totaled 85.8% of its budget of $1,410,312.40; judicial costs have totaled 82.7 percent of its budget of $574,884.05; public safety costs have totaled 88.6 percent of its budget of $1,866,647.16; public works costs have totaled 66% of its budget of $1,151,676.68; health and welfare costs have totaled 91.6 percent of its budget of $53,250; culture and recreation costs have totaled 114.1 percent of its budget of $120,311.83; housing and development costs have totaled 74.1 percent of its budget of $90,898.35; debt service costs have totaled 91.5 percent of its budget of $31,656 and other financing use costs have totaled 95.3 percent of its budget of $494,924.65.