People heading to court in Auburn for DUI or traffic violations will now come face-to-face with Judge James McLaughlin.
McLaughlin was appointed as the new Municipal Court Judge of Auburn after the retirement of Judge Joe Bailey. McLaughlin began seeing cases at the municipal court Jan. 1.
Municipal courts address misdemeanor cases and violations where the punishment does not exceed $500 or one year in jail.
The Auburn Municipal Court only serves the city of Auburn.
McLaughlin is originally from Auburn and earned an accounting degree from Auburn University. After college, he attended the University of Alabama School of Law.
Before becoming Auburn's municipal court judge, McLaughlin worked in private law practice for 16 years and served as Auburn's public defender for 11 years.
As public defender, McLaughlin represented people in Municipal Court that could not afford the services of an attorney.
McLaughlin replaced Bailey, who served as judge in Auburn's Municipal Court for 29 years.
"If I have half the reputation that Judge Bailey has, I will be very pleased," McLaughlin said.
Bailey retired after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, but he will continue to serve the court as an associate judge.
"I have every confidence in (McLaughlin)," Bailey said. "He is a great man who conducts himself with honesty and integrity."
This is McLaughlin's first experience as a judge.
"I like coming to work and knowing exactly what I will be doing, as opposed to private practice where you are dealing with many different things every day," McLaughlin said.
He said he will strive to listen to all the evidence in every case, conduct himself with fairness and try to be courteous to every party involved.
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