Brian Haas

bhaas@tennessean.com

Being a judge is good work if you can get it. Stylish robe, six-figure salary and no rules whatsoever for how much time you take off.

And some judges appear to take a lot of time off.

To gauge the number of days worked from July 2013 through June 2014, The Tennessean obtained and analyzed swipe card access data showing every time a judge used his or her access card to enter or exit a courthouse or parking garage. Any day in which at least a single swipe was recorded was counted as a workday. Judges on average in Tennessee spend about 210 days in court each year, according to a 2013 caseload study by the National Center for State Courts. That number accounts for holidays and sick, personal and vacation days, along with training and judicial conferences.

The results show the majority of the 29 judges in Davidson County show up to work as expected. The overall average in the county, according to the card-swipe data, was 209 workdays during that time.

One judge, now-retired General Sessions Judge Gloria Dumas, showed up in court only about 48 days during the yearlong period, the data showed. Five other judges were recorded in card-swipe data as having worked 179 or fewer days in the last fiscal year, including the new presiding judge of General Sessions Court, Judge Rachel Bell.

Warner Hassell, administrator of General Sessions Court, warned against reading too much into the card data, saying that judges could have been dropped off by someone else or forgotten their card, although none of the judges specifically asserted that claim. Some absences also could be explained by judges' work with the Middle Tennessee Mental Health Institute, which is not at the courthouse.

"The parking card key information that was provided to you should not be used exclusively to determine actual attendance due to multiple factors," Hassell said.

The Tennessean reached out to all six judges identified in the data as having lower card-swipe results. Bell was the only judge who responded personally, though Dumas' attorney responded and cited health issues to explain her poor attendance.

Bell echoed Hassell's response to The Tennessean's analysis.

"The swipe-card data should not be used as an accurate depiction or account of whether a judge is or isn't at work," she wrote in an email. "There are several number of reasons a Judge may or may not have swiped their personal ID badge to enter the garage to park their car or enter the building."

Yet data for 23 out of 29 judges — including six in General Sessions Court — showed no problems with missed swipes, forgotten badges or work off-site.

Each judge in Davidson County was paid $165,204 during that time — regardless of days or hours worked — except Dumas, who paid a replacement judge about a third of her salary to take over her duties.

Russell Carparelli, a former Colorado appeals court judge and executive director of the Nashville-based American Judicature Society, which is dedicated to protecting the integrity of the judicial system, said the data raise fair questions about the local judiciary.

"They're getting paid to be at the office, to be at the courthouse. That's where they should be," Carparelli said. "I think the question is, are they fulfilling the office that they were elected to?"

Wide gap among top, bottom judges

The news isn't all bad.

At least 14 of the judges worked more than the expected 210 days that the National Center for State Courts spelled out. Chancery Court Judge Russell Perkins, for example, reined as the workaholic of Nashville's judges, putting in more days at the courthouse than any other judge. According to card-swipe data, he put in work on 302 days in the last fiscal year.

"My law partner accused me back in the day of having vacation 'cancelitis.' That's my problem," Perkins said on Thursday with a chuckle. "But I am going on vacation next week."

He said he didn't think he worked any harder than his colleagues, but he makes it a point to be in the courthouse during judicial conferences and even the Christmas holidays.

"I feel like somebody should be here," he said.

And then there's the flip side.

According to the card records, Judge Dumas was recorded entering the judges' parking garage or courthouse only 48 times in all of the 2013-14 fiscal year. Dumas has been questioned before about her attendance and even went so far as to pay a substitute judge out of her own salary during that time period to cover for her.

"She was definitely out more than the average judge," said her attorney, Bob DeLaney.

He said she has been dealing with serious health problems for quite some time. "She decided I think as a consequence of her health to not run for re-election and to me that speaks for itself."

The second-lowest attendance, according to the data, was posted by Carol Soloman, who recently lost her bid for re-election. The data showed 158 days in which her swipe card was recorded being used.

Soloman could not be reached for comment. Nor could retired Judge Sue McKnight Evans, who tallied 172 days with card swipes. Hassell, the General Sessions court administrator, said Evans had some health problems during that time.

General Sessions Judges Michael Mondelli and Dianne Turner, whose card data showed 172 and 178 days, declined to comment through Hassell.

Accountability is paramount

Carparelli, with the American Judicature Society, said the public should expect transparency and accountability from its judges. While judges are independently elected and don't have strict guidelines on attendance, he said someone needs to be keeping score.

"They need to be accountable and somebody should be keeping them accountable," he said. "It seems to me the chief judge is in the best position to do that."

In General Sessions Court, that responsibility would fall to Bell, who won re-election handily in August and was recently elected presiding judge of the court by her fellow judges.

Bell said that citizens shouldn't worry about their judiciary based on the card data.

"The Davidson County constituents and taxpayers should rest assured there are neither performance or absence issues with our General Sessions Court judges," Bell said. "Further, they are being provided an excellent elected body of judges who are earning their salaries and holding their positions with high esteem."

Reach Brian Haas at 615-726-8968 and on Twitter @brianhaas.