After Jefferson County Judge Gerald Robinson shut down last week’s Quorum Court meeting because of a failure to adopt a procedures ordinance, one justice of the peace is trying to remedy the situation.
Lloyd Franklin Jr., who took office Jan. 1, has called a meeting for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Quorum Courtroom. Franklin cited a provision in state law that a justice of the peace to call a meeting and said in a letter to County Judge Gerald Robinson that a majority of the justices of the peace have agreed to his request for the meeting.
Later Monday, a memo from the judge’s office said that Franklin had failed to check with that office before scheduling that meeting and said the Quorum Court room would already being in use because of a special meeting of the Human Resource Committee to hear an appeal of a disciplinary action in from the sheriff’s office.
The memo said to properly schedule a meeting, contact the judge’s office.
A two and-a-half page letter from Franklin outlines his complaints which included Robinson not placing a procedures ordinance created by several members of the legislative body on the agenda for the regular meeting, instead offering one created by his office and county attorney Terry Wynne.
In an email to Franklin, Robinson told Franklin he did not have the authority to circumvent the authority of the county judge executive powers.
In the letter, Franklin was also critical of Justice of the Peace Patricia Royal Johnson, who is now chairman of the court’s Judicial Committee and Robinson told Franklin he would not “over ride or disrespect Justice Johnson’s chairmanship.”
This is my last time with the back and forth,” Franklin said in a response to Robinson. Any further actions by your office to obstruct proper legislation will result in an immediate restraining order and/or injunction being filed against you and your office.”
