Press Release: Legal Lines with Locke Meredith
Guest: Chip Moore
Show # 53
Attorney Locke Meredith interviews recently elected 19th Judicial Court Judge Chip Moore. Judge Moore is going to talk about what it is like to run for judge. He is moving into the criminal court, and is going to talk about improvements he hopes to make there as well.
Judge Moore is from Zachary. He started practicing law out of a small office in Zachary, sharing a building with attorney Russell Bankston, and then moved on to build his own office down the road. He did civil practice, doing most everything except bankruptcy. Judge Moore also was asked to serve as City Prosecutor, which he did for ten years for the City of Zachary. Here he acted on behalf of the government, prosecuting traffic violators, first and second offense DWI’s, theft of goods, simple possession, misdemeanors. A misdemeanor is any crime which is punishable with six months or less in prison and a fine of up to one thousand dollars. Anything beyond that is a felony or relative felony. Judge Moore handled over 18,000 cases in his time as City Prosecutor. Besides serving as City Prosecutor, Judge Moore also served as Magistrate Judge to the town of Slaughter. This role was similar to City Prosecutor, mostly ruling misdemeanor cases.
Next, Meredith asks Judge Moore about his experience running for Judge. “It’s a marathon,” says Judge Moore. After being in the courtroom so much and seeing so many judges in action, Judge Moore felt that he had the personality to fit that role. His wife agrees, so he moved forward.
Campaigning, Judge Moore explains, began by going to local gatherings. Judge Moore said he would just look in the paper for an event people were going to, and go and meet people and let the people know who he was. He also did some campaigning through his website.
Judge Moore, being recently elected, will begin taking cases in a few weeks. He is going to be handling the criminal bench with Judge Johnson. There is no formal training for judges, but Judge Moore says he plans to go to as many courses as he can. Judge Moore will have a staff team to help him, and can also seek the counsel of other judges, which will be around the building. Meredith and Judge Moore discuss further the overcrowded jails in Louisiana, and then the show closes.
