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There is nothing in section 5.10, as re-
ported by the Committee on the Judicial
Branch, which would prevent the legisla-
ture from establishing a district contiguous
with the county, thereby requiring, if the
legislature saw fit, that there be a district
court judge resident in each county; but
all of the evidence we heard from those
people most familiar with the problems of
caseload and for the best court administra-
tion told us — not just the study of the
Maryland State Bar Association, but also
the study of the Institute for Judicial Ad-
ministration, and Mr. Fred Inverness, Di-
rector of the Administrative Office of the
Courts — that there was not now a need for
a district court judge in each county.
To mandate that into the constitution
would be unwise when the legislature, if it
so desired, could provide it next year, five
years from now, or at any time thereafter.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Adkins.
DELEGATE ADKINS: Mr. Chairman
and ladies and gentlemen of the Conven-
tion:
I rise with considerable reluctance in this
matter, because I have wrestled with it in
my own mind since the report of the Case
Commission of the Bar Association was
first given at Atlantic City at the Conven-
tion.
I am just as concerned about efficiency in
the administration of justice as any mem-
ber of the majority. I am just as concerned
with keeping the expenses of the govern-
ment at the barest possible minimum in
order to do an effective job as any member
of this assembly. But I have a more over-
riding interest, and that is to see that
justice is properly served to the people of
this State, and I suggest to this Conven-
tion that justice is not a matter of sta-
tistics. It is not a matter of caseload. It is
not a matter of whether or not a judge is
busy full time or part time. I concede that
all of these matters are significant. The
most important single question here, how-
ever, is what type of courts can we device
in which the people will have the greatest
confidence.
Law can only be administered by a court
system in which the people have confidence.
The lowest system of the lowest court in
this four-tier system is the court which
has the most direct influence, the most
direct image making power to the people
of our State, and it is for that reason, and
for that reason alone that I feel it is
absolutely critical. I finally come to this
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conclusion, reluctantly, I might say, that
we should have in each of our counties a
judge who is a resident of that county, not
necessarily because he knows the mores of
the community any better, as Mr. Smith
has suggested, but simply because he will,
by virtue of being a neighbor, instill in the
people of that county a sense of fairness
and dignity of the court system.
It is important that the people feel that
they are being judged by their peers. That
is a long, old, established Anglo-Saxon rule.
It is, I suggest a matter of considerable
importance that a judge be so viewed in
the county where he is attempting to ad-
minister justice.
Despite the statistics, I. ask you to defeat
the motion to reconsider.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Byrnes.
DELEGATE BYRNES: Mr. Chairman, I
would like to direct a question if I could
to Chairman Mudd, if he would yield.
THE CHAIRMAN: Let me first inquire,
for what purpose does Delegate Frederick
rise?
DELEGATE FREDERICK: If possible,
I would like to ask a question of the spon-
sor of the motion to reconsider.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Mudd do
you yield to a question from Delegate
Byrnes?
DELEGATE MUDD: Yes, Mr. Chair-
man.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Byrnes.
DELEGATE BYRNES: Did the Com-
mittee contemplate the possibility that we
would decide, the Committee of the Whole,
that a judge would be paid, say, $30,000
for doing very definitely part time work
during the week and would be paid the
same amount as a judge working full time
and perhaps overtime in the urban areas?
Did you have a uniform salary scale in
mind, or did you consider the possibility
of adjusting for less work performed?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Mudd.
DELEGATE MUDD: Our Committee as-
sumed that every judge appointed in the
four-tier system would be a full time
lawyer-judge, a legal judge, with no part
time judges. We did not consider in any
detail the matter of salaries, except that
we felt it would be uniform throughout
each tier. There was no suggestion in our
Committee that I recall that a district
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