The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit is considering the reappointment of another bankruptcy judge, this time for the Southern District of Georgia in Augusta.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Susan D. Barrett is nearing the end of a 14-year term. Her appointment will expire in March 2020. The Eleventh Circuit in an announcement Friday invited comments about whether to reappoint her to a new 14-year term.

Barrett is a graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law and was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia in 1991. Before her 2006 appointment to bankruptcy court, she practiced law at the Hull Barrett firm in Augusta, co-founded by Will Barrett. He left the firm to become a federal judge in 1922 and was the first judge from Augusta on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, according to the firm website.

The jurisdiction of a bankruptcy judge is specified in U.S.C. titles 28 and 11, and the Bankruptcy Amendment and Federal Judgeship Act of 1984. In bankruptcy cases and proceedings referred by the district court, bankruptcy judges perform duties that can include holding status conferences, conducting hearings and trials, making final determinations, entering orders and judgments, and submitting proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law to the district court.

Members of the bar and the public are invited to submit written comments for consideration by the court of appeals concerning the reappointing of Barrett. The identity of those commenting can be kept confidential upon request. However, the judge will be provided with a general description of the source and nature of any remarks, the court said. All comments should be sent to Circuit Executive James P. Gerstenlauer, Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, 56 Forsyth St., N.W., Atlanta, GA 30303. The deadline is Aug. 19.

With an earlier deadline of July 22, the Eleventh Circuit also is considering whether to reappoint four other bankruptcy judges:

  • Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James Robinson for the Northern District of Alabama at Anniston
  • U. S. Bankruptcy Judge Tamara Mitchell for the Northern District of Alabama at Birmingham
  • U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Olson for the Southern District of Florida at Fort Lauderdale
  • Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Laurel Myerson Isicoff for the Southern District of Florida at Miami

The salary of a bankruptcy judge is approximately $194,000, or 92% of the district court judge salary.