Thirteenth Judicial District - Morgan County Court Judge
Honorable Edgar H. Brandenburg
Retention Year: 1998
Recommendation: Retain
The Thirteenth Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance unanimously recommends Logan County Judge Catherine M. Heckel BE RETAINED.
Judge Heckel has completed three years as County Judge and this will be her first time to stand for retention.
Judge Heckel is involved in a wide range of bar activities and currently serves as president of the Thirteenth Judicial District Bar Association. She has been innovative in addressing domestic violence issues, bad checks, and DUI sentencing. Although the judgeship is classified as part-time, she has no private practice.
She approaches her work as a County Judge with great enthusiasm and energy. However, her desire to promote social change may affect her impartiality as a County Judge. Several survey comments indicated appearance of gender and prosecutorial bias. The Commission has concerns about the Judge's somewhat inflexible attitude towards sentencing and is concerned that she may not be weighing the circumstances in each case individually.