Thirteenth Judicial District - Logan County Court Judge
Honorable Robert B. Smith
Retention Year: 2010
Recommendation: Retain
Reports:
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The Thirteenth Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance unanimously recommends that Judge Robert B. Smith BE RETAINED.
Judge Smith was appointed to the Logan County Court bench in April, 2000. Prior to his appointment, Judge Smith was in private practice in Sterling and served as the Sterling Municipal Judge for 22 years. Judge Smith’s community involvement has included teaching classes at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling.
Judge Smith presently hears civil, traffic, and misdemeanor cases in the County Court. Judge Smith enjoys his work as a county judge and continually works to improve his performance through attendance at training conferences and reading published articles and current decisions of the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court on a regular basis. Judge Smith believes that it is important to work hard as a county judge and indicates a desire to give his best to the position.
Both attorneys and non-attorneys surveyed scored Judge Smith below the average for all county judges, but his scores have improved over the last several years. The areas where he scored the lowest on both surveys were his application and knowledge of law and diligence. Judge Smith’s ratings by non-attorneys averaged just above 3.0, or a grade of “B”. Of the non-attorneys, jurors rated him at 3.6 and non-jurors at 2.7. The attorney rankings were slightly higher, but could have been distorted by the small number of attorneys (only 17) responding to the questionnaire. In order to help Judge Smith improve his performance he has agreed to participate in a formal improvement plan which will address issues specific to his court room and will also address any areas where he was rated low.
Of the attorneys surveyed about retention, 82% recommended to retain, 12% not to retain and 6% expressed no opinion. Excluding those who had no opinion, 88% recommended to retain and 13% not to retain. Of all the non-attorneys surveyed, 69% recommended to retain, 21% not to retain and 9% expressed no opinion. Excluding those who had no opinion, 76% recommended to retain and 24% not to retain. (These percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.)