Jan. 15—Morgan County District Judge Brent Craig, a man colleagues say exemplifies judicial temperament and fairness, will retire from the bench on Thursday after 16 years of service.
“Many a docket, as I go in there, I ask God: ‘Help me see the people like you see them, and maybe they can see a little bit of you in me,'” Craig reflected from his chambers in the Morgan County Courthouse on Monday. He sat behind a large wooden desk flanked by empty, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. He had already begun moving his things out.
Craig was elected in 2008, after District Judge David Breland retired, and took office in January 2009. Before that, he worked for the Morgan County District Attorney’s Office and once shared a law firm with his brother. He served as the first full-time municipal judge for Decatur from 1992 to 1996.
“If anybody ever had the temperament to be judge, it’s him,” said District Judge Shelly Waters, who has worked with Craig since he took office. “He’s easygoing. He listens. He is a true friend, a great colleague, and he has served the people of Morgan County well — with integrity and without bias. And he’s just a good person.”
Craig, a self-described “nerd,” is also the chairman of the technology commission for the Alabama Administrative Office of Courts, where he confers with and makes suggestions to IT professionals serving the justice system.
“As you look back over the years, it’s clear that his impact extended beyond Morgan County,” District Judge Kevin Kusta said. “He did significant work which allowed the citizens of Alabama — the whole state — the ability to handle traffic violations and small disputes over the internet, saving them time.”
Kusta said courts now allow people to pay traffic tickets or apply for driving school online, without having to come to court in person, thanks to Craig’s efforts.
“He’s also been working on small claims stuff where, let’s say it’s $500, well they can say I agree I owe this money, and they don’t have to come to court. He’s really been doing a lot of work with that. That’s kind of a big deal,” Kusta said.
Craig said when people ask why he’s retiring, he tells them that he loves his job but loves his “grand-girls” more.
“Three of them live in Georgia, one is in Madison, and we hope to spend a lot of time with them kind of going back and forth,” Craig said.
Craig said he also plans to become more involved in church ministry. His family has attended West Hartselle Baptist Church for decades but plans to move to Madison after retirement, where they will attend service at Church of the Highlands.
Craig plans to keep his law license active past Jan. 16.
“I should continue to have opportunities to do conflict cases. Retired judges do that quite frequently,” he said, explaining that retired judges fill in when a sitting judge may have a conflict due to, for example, a relative appearing in a case.
As a Morgan County district judge, Craig has handled virtually all district civil cases involving claims under $20,000 — what he called the “Judge Judy stuff.”
“That’s probably one of my favorite dockets is the small claims,” he said. “Here’s the thing: 85% of them are either credit cards or evictions, which is not fun, but it’s that 5% or 10% that make it interesting. Just unique cases, it might be a roof job gone bad, or somebody installing a motor who allegedly didn’t do it correctly. Those can make it interesting.”
Craig has also handled district criminal cases, many of which have been misdemeanors. He said it has been “a blessing” to help people.
“Unless a criminal defendant is lying, they could never say that I was disrespectful to them. Because I haven’t been. And I think that comes back. They treat me respectfully. Very few people get out of line, because I think if you treat people respectfully, they tend to do the same to you,” he said.
“I think those jail defendants — and I’m talking about the misdemeanors, they hadn’t done major stuff — they can tell that I care about them. I would like to think they can sense that, the way I treat them. Same way with the victims in criminal cases.”
Craig said he’ll miss the people he has worked with most of all.
“I can honestly say Judge Waters, Judge Kusta, Judge (Charles) Langham before them, and our judicial assistants — none of us ever had a cross word. We all get along great; we work together well,” he said.
Craig’s judicial assistant, Marsha Luttrell, is retiring alongside him. She used to work with Craig at his law firm, and Craig said he knew she would be a perfect fit for the district court workload.
“District court is very fast paced … and Marsha is made for this,” Craig said. “I’ve had lawyers from out of the county who didn’t know her say, ‘Man, your judicial assistant is amazing. She does a wonderful job. Very knowledgeable, too, in the law.'” — Looking ahead
A new judge will be appointed by Gov. Kay Ivey no earlier than Friday, although the selection process will likely extend past that date. Waters said she expects the earliest a new judge will take office will be in mid-February and the latest, she hopes, will be mid-March.
Waters said the top candidates — attorneys who must reside in Morgan County — will be summoned to Montgomery for in-person interviews with the governor’s Appointment Office before a recommendation to the governor is made.
While Waters and her colleagues have no say in who will be selected, she said she hopes the new judge shares similar qualities with Craig.
“A judge that can sit and listen to the facts and fairly apply the law, so that the people of Morgan County feel like they’re being heard, have access to the judicial system, and that they have a fair ruling — not a ruling that’s necessarily in their favor, but a fair ruling — that’s all you can ask of a judge,” Waters said.
“And to live above board. Sometimes it’s hard for new judges to come in, because you don’t get to talk to your wife or husband at home about what’s going on up here. You don’t get to necessarily go to lunch with your buddies that you used to hang out with after court. It’s a little bit different. And that person needs to have a really strong sense of confidentiality and trust.”
Kusta said Craig, who “exemplified the judicial temperament needed for the position,” has been an asset to the citizens of Morgan County.
“His work ethic and friendship is going to be something hard to replace,” he said. “We’re going to miss his leadership and expertise, and I just wish him the best of luck as he moves on to the next chapter of his life.”
— david.gambino@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2438.