A Catoosa County judge has been paid half of his annual $63,000 salary to sit at home since he was removed forcibly from the county courthouse in June.
While Magistrate Anthony Peters' attorney said he and the court worked out a mutual agreement for Peters to stay away from his office until a resolution can be made in the case, the process apparently is at a standstill.
"He would like to be back at his old office working; that is the ultimate goal," said Peter's attorney, Chris Townley. "[But] we're not forcing the issue."
Peters had a heated confrontation on June 16 with his boss, Chief Magistrate Donald "Sonny" Caldwell, and was escorted from the courthouse in handcuffs.
Peters soon filed warrants against several law enforcement officers, but those were dismissed without a hearing. He was charged in August with criminal trespassing and disorderly conduct, and those charges are still pending. Peters said when he tried to return to work, he wasn't allowed back in the building.
County Attorney Chad Young said the county tried to find affordable office space outside the courthouse for Peters to work but couldn't. Other arrangements are being considered, he said, but those are up to the judges.
As far as resolving the argument between Peters and Caldwell, the county attorney's office is acting as a "mediator" but has no authority to put a judge on leave or suspend his pay, Young said.
He said the county has no way of knowing if the Judicial Qualifications Commission, the state agency that regulates judges' official conduct, is investigating Peters or Caldwell, since the agency acts in secret.
It's "even more difficult and vague that the one agency that kind of is responsible for handling this stuff does everything in secret," Young said.
The Judicial Qualifications Commission won't comment on pending investigations unless a disciplinary action is taken.
Townley said Peters hasn't met publicly with the judicial commission, but he couldn't comment whether private meetings or an investigation are taking place.
Caldwell could not be reached for comment, and Peters declined to comment.
Peters asked the commission to investigate Caldwell in June, before the courthouse confrontation. Peters' complaint raised questions about the senior judge's campaign finances and about alleged misuse of county time.
Around the same time as the confrontation, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation began a separate investigation into Peters and a woman friend involving a jewelry theft.
Peters is unlikely to be charged in that case, Greg Ramey, GBI assistant special agent in charge at the Calhoun office, said Wednesday. The investigation is ongoing, but no evidence has shown Peters was involved in any crime, he said.
Both Young and Townley said no changes are expected in the magistrate office before the beginning of the year. But if the judges were to make an agreement among themselves, Peters could return to work.
"We're not waiting on any kind of decision from the [Judicial Qualifications Commission]," Young said. "We just don't want any more incidents like what happened this summer."
Contact staff writer Joy Lukachick at jlukachick@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/jlukachick.