IN BRIEF: Rockdale County Magistrate Judge Rudy Horne recently announced he will run in the July 31 Republican primary for his sixth term as Chief Magiatrate Judge.

The Magistrate Court's main responsibility is to determine the sufficiency of evidence. Services include: Civil claims, garnishments and abandoned motor vehicles of $15,000 or less, evictions, distress warrants, ordinance violations, issuance of bad check citations, misdemeanor bad check warrant hearings, and first appearance and committal hearings. No jury trials are held in Magistrate Court and appeals from this court are made to the State or Superior Court.

Horne graduated from Emory University in 1965 and Woodrow Wilson College of Law in 1976. He practiced law in Rockdale from 1978 to 2001. He became a part-time Magistrate judge in 1987, became part-time Chief Magistrate in 1993, and full-time Chief Magistrate judge in 2001. He is in his 25th year as a magistrate judge.    

The Magistrate Judge position is an partisan seat. If Horne becomes the Republican nominee, he will face off against the Democratic nominee in the November general election. Trial attorney Phinea Aten, president of the newly formed NewRock Legal Society, announced in November she would be running for the Democratic ticket.   

For more information on Horne's campaign, go to www.judgerudyhorne.com, email rudyhorne.judge@yahoo.com or call 770-596-6462.