Memorandum

To:	Chief Judge Gary B. Andrews
From:	William L. Martin, III
Subject:	IOM Update
Date:	December 10, 1997

Attached please find the changes to the Internal Operations Manual since our last Banc Meeting. The list includes those changes which have been approved by the Court as well as two changes which have been approved in concept but need approval of the actual language.

I.	(Page 5)

H.	OFFICE OF THE CLERK/COURT ADMINISTRATOR

Judge in Charge: _______________________

1.	The Judge in Charge of the Clerk's Office shall be the Judge next in line to be Chief Judge. (Source: November 1996 Banc meeting.)

VII.	(Page 15)

A.	BONDING OF COURT EMPLOYEES

All employees of the Court of Appeals are covered by a blanket faithful performance bond in the amount of $100,000 and a blanket honesty bond in the amount of $5,000,000 under Policy No. 1450 00 110723 Wausau Insurance Company and Westchester No. 626 011675 2, dated October 1, 1989 and in effect until	9/30/ 98.

The fiscal officer shall be bonded in the amount of $100,000.

B.	COMPREHENSIVE GENERAL LIABILITY COVERAGE

A single liability insurance policy shall provide coverage for each employee and each judge on the court. Certification of coverage shall be supplied to each judge annually, Policy No. CGL -401-14-96 providing $1,000,000 per person and $3,000,000 per occurrence coverage, policy dates July 1, 1997 through June 30, 1998. (Source: December 1997 Banc Meeting.)

C.	STATE TORT CLAIMS POLICY

There is a single liability insurance policy providing coverage under the State Tort Claims Policy No. TCP-401-14-96 providing $1,000,000 per person coverage or $3,000,000 aggregate per occurrence coverage policy dates July 1, 1997 through June 30, 1998. (Source: December 1997 Banc Meeting.)

C.	SALARIES (Page 18)

3.	The following procedure shall be followed for any salary adjustment for Clerk's Office personnel and floating administrative assistants which is not a regular salary scale adjustment, a cost of living increase, merit increase or the like.

a.	The Clerk/Court Administrator shall present the judge in charge of the Clerk's Office with a report stating the requested salary adjustment and the reasons therefore.

b.	The report shall contain a work history and salary history of the employee while at the Court of Appeals.

c.	The Fiscal Officer shall present the Judge in charge of the Clerk's Office with a complete fiscal history of the employee, a complete leave history of the employee and a fiscal note stating whether or not the Court has funds available for any salary increase and from which source or sources those funds are available.

d.	The judge in charge of the Clerk's Office shall indicate on the report whether that judge recommends or does not recommend the proposed salary adjustment.

e.	The Clerk/Court Administrator shall circulate a copy of the report and fiscal note along with the recommendation of the judge in charge of the Clerk's Office to all of the judges prior to the next scheduled Banc Meeting, at which time the Banc will take up the proposed salary adjustment.

(Source: November 1996 Banc Meeting)

J.	CLE AND COURT LEAVE (Page 22)

3.	Staff Attorneys shall satisfy all CLE requirements incumbent upon members of the Bar to include alternative dispute resolution training. (Source: November 1996 Banc Meeting).

J.	DISSEMINATING CASES (Page 34)

2.	Opinions shall be released in any case whenever ready and in conformity with OCGA Section 15-2-4 (c), but not before oral argument if requested or the last date upon which oral argument may be requested. (Source: January 1994 Banc Meeting).

N.	ORDERS (Page 37)

2.	Orders shall be released whenever ready. See OCGA Section 15-
4-2 (c). (Source: January 1994 Banc meeting).

W.	OVERRULING PRIOR CASES (Page 39)

1.	When an opinion seeks to overrule a prior decision, the author of the opinion overruling the prior decision should attach a memo so stating, showing the panel members of the case being overruled. If a Judge who participated in that opinion is still on the Court, the overruling opinion should be circulated first to the author of that opinion, and then to the other Judges on the panel of the case being overruled, if they are still on the Court, even before the opinion goes to the overruling author's panel members.

2.	After the opinion has been circulated to the author of the opinion being overruled, and the other members of the panel, if the author of the overruling opinion holds to his/her decision to overrule a prior decision, the case shall be circulated, first to the overruling Judge's panel and then to all Judges on the Court.

3.	If a Senior Judge is serving on the panel which is overruling a prior decision, and the Judge from whom the case was assigned to the Senior Judge is a Judge who sat on the panel of the case being overruled, then the case shall circulate to that Judge and the Judge junior most in time of service as a Judge of the Court of Appeals of Georgia on the panel next in succession to the panel overruling the prior decision, shall not participate in the decision, unless that Judge also sat on the panel of the case being overruled, in which case the junior most Judge on the Court, who is not on the panel overruling the prior case and who did not participate in the case being overruled, shall not participate in the decision.

4.	In no event a case be voted upon by more than ten Judges of the Court.

5.	This procedure should be used whenever the opinion uses the words "overrule," "disapprove," "disavow," and/or "reject."

IOM change approved in concept, needs approval of actual language.

A.	DISQUALIFICATIONS. (Page 62)

Whenever a case is assigned to a judge to author or to vote on and that judge is disqualified, that judge shall notify the Clerk's Office by memorandum that that judge is disqualified and that the case is to be transferred to another judge.

1.	If the case to be transferred is set for oral argument or the case has previously been orally argued, the case will be assigned to the next judge on the transferring judge's panel. The judges on each panel shall be numbered one, two and three by the Clerk's Office. If judge one is disqualified, then the case goes to judge two, judge two to judge three and judge three to judge one.

2.	After the case has been assigned to the next judge on the panel, the Clerk's Office will assign another judge to that panel from the next panel to sit in on that case for voting purposes. Each judge on each panel will be assigned to the next panel in the same judge order. Judge one on panel one will be assigned to fill in for judge one on panel two; judge one on panel two will be assigned to fill in for judge one on panel three. Judge one on panel three will be assigned to fill in for judge one on panel one, and so forth.

3.	If the case in which a judge is disqualified has not been orally argued or has not been set for oral argument, then the case shall be assigned off-panel. The case shall be assigned to the judge in the same position on the next panel.

4.	If a judge is sitting on a panel, but is not assigned to the case, and that judge is disqualified, then the corresponding judge on the next panel will be assigned to that panel for purposes of voting on the opinion.

5.	If the judge who is disqualified is the Chief Judge, then the case shall be assigned to the judge on the division for whom the Chief Judge is sitting.

6.	If the case is to be reassigned, all records, transcripts, exhibits, briefs, motions, etc. are to be attached and given to the Clerk, Administrative Assistant to the Clerk or the Docket Clerk for reassignment.

7.	If the case is to be reassigned, the Clerk shall reassign the case, according to the judge position and panel number; notify all judges' offices involved in the transfer by memorandum; change the judge and color code on the record; and deliver the record, transcript, exhibits, motions, briefs etc. to the newly assigned judge.

8.	If, the case to be reassigned is a previous year's

case, and the year's docket has closed, there will be no out- of-term assignment back to even the wheel. If the case to be reassigned is in the current docket year, the Court's docketing system will automatically even out the case assignments.

9.	If upon reassignment to the next judge on the panel or the corresponding judge on the next panel, that next judge is also disqualified, then the assignment will be to the judge on the third panel in the corresponding slot. Should that judge also be disqualified, the Clerk shall comprise a panel of judges to hear the case. The next case docketed on the wheel will be assigned by the computer to the disqualified judge in order to keep the wheel in balance and assign cases equally, unless the previous year's docket has closed, and in such case there will be no out-of-term assignment back to even the wheel.

(Source: Minutes, November 1995 Banc meeting).

IOM change approved in concept, needs approval of actual language.