Gov. Nathan Deal says the state will pay the legal bills of Cordele Circuit judges who hired private counsel to defend them in a pending lawsuit, but his announcement doesn’t resolve an underlying dispute over whether the state attorney general is obligated to defend judges facing litigation.
The debate came to a head when Attorney General Sam Olens refused to represent four judges in the circuit who were sued last year over claims they failed to provide legal counsel to indigent criminal defendants. Olens said he could not represent the judges because he was already obligated to represent public defenders also being sued, and representing the judges—or the local prosecutor—would present a conflict of interest.
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