§ 16-13-224 — Temporary exchange of districts - Assignment

(a) Circuit judges may temporarily exchange judicial districts by joint order, and any circuit judge who consents may be assigned to another district for temporary service under rules adopted by the Supreme Court. (b) When a circuit judge is serving temporarily in a judicial district other than his or her own, he or she shall not thereby be disqualified from conducting court or performing the usual and customary functions of his or her office in his or her own judicial district. (c) A circuit judge on temporary duty by exchange or assignment: (1) Shall have the same power and authority as a regularly elected or appointed judge for the judicial district; and (2) May sign any judgment, order, document, or other paper relating to any case heard by the judge, either in the judicial district where the cause or matter is pending or in his or her own district, and the judgment, order, document, or other paper shall for all intents have the same effect, irrespective of the district in which it is signed. (d) The sheriff and the circuit clerk in the county where a circuit judge is on temporary duty by exchange or assignment shall perform the same duties and functions in carrying out the operation of the court as they perform in cases assigned to the regularly elected or appointed judges. (e) If a circuit judge who is on temporary duty by exchange or assignment needs a jury for the disposition of any case, he or she may use the regular or special panel of the circuit court of that county. If the regular and special panels are exhausted, he or she may summon the circuit clerk and have him or her select the required number of qualified jurors.

Legislative History

Amended by Act 2017, No. 600,§ 3, eff. 8/1/2017. Acts 2003, No. 1185, § 79.