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Sen. David Thomas Staffer Appointed Magistrate

June 3, 2010 by  
Filed under SC Politics

3 Comments

James F. Hicks III, (source Facebook)

Sen. David Thomas policy and communications director James Hicks, who was recently appointed to be a Greenville County magistrate, was nominated on April 28th, 2010, while he was still serving on Thomas’ staff, according to documents we have received from the governors’ office via a FOIA request.

According to the SC Judicial Department, no judge or candidate shall endorse or publicly oppose a candidate for office, makes speeches on the behalf of a candidate and many other stipulations.  You can read more of the rules at the SC Judicial Department website.

What further drives questions into the nomination is the lead signature of David Thomas on the nomination form, Hicks employment with Thomas’ law firm and the glaring omission of his involvement/employment with Thomas’ congressional campaign.

It’s not like Thomas’ didn’t know about his involvement, he was being paid by the campaign and sent out communications as late as May 14th, 2010.

Thomas Campaign Payments to Hicks

We have outstanding calls with Thomas’ congressional campaign and to Magistrate Hicks that have yet to be returned and have requested meeting minutes to determine who actually nominated Hicks from the Greenville Delegation meeting.

Spokesman Ben Fox told us yesterday that the Governor’s office was consulting with their legal teams to determine what should be done with the appointment given the violations made by Hicks.

Related Documents:
Hicks Nomination
Hicks Application Page 1
Hicks Application Page 2

Related Articles:
Congressional Campaign Employs Magistrate Judge

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  • Matt

    Whoa…breaking news by The Conservativist!

    Another curious thing, though (besides the legal and ethical questions this situation poses): isn’t James Hicks like recently graduated from college? I have some knowledge of the judicial selection process from when I interned as a student at the State House in Columbia–which was not that long ago (but apparently longer than Mr. Hicks has been out of school…) It is rather uncommon for a magistrate judge to be this young. While political connections do come into play over who is nominated (which Hicks obviously has at least one) usually the men and women nominated are well-established in their communities and careers–and are not recent college graduates.

  • Troy Styles

    I completely agree that a 24 year old may be too young to be a magistrate. However, I attended school with Jamie Hicks at Hampton Park Christian School as a child. I have not spoken to Jamie in years but I do think this decision is a good one. He will bring fair minded justice to the magistrate court. His education is a notch above public school. His fundamentals are pure and not money motivated. He cares about people with a christian heart and I think this is positive decision for Greenville County and I look forward to having him serve as a local magistrate. Congradulations Jamie…keep your head up…you deserve this no matter how young you are. I am so proud of you!!! Good Luck!!!

  • Brent

    The issue isn’t with his age, although it should raise some eyebrows. The issue is how this nomination came about. I’m not saying anything improper has taken place but I would certainly like more details.