DALTON, Ga. — For more than two decades, Haynes Townsend has served as the first step in the judicial process for many people as a judge in Whitfield County Magistrate Court. He says for longer than that he has worked to make his community and the world a better place through Lions Club International.

He said he is proud of his work in and his devotion to both paths.

“I think it is an old Mark Twain quote, ‘There is no pillow so soft as a clear conscience,’” Townsend said. “I don’t have any trouble sleeping at night. I am proud of what we have done with this office (Magistrate Court) over the last number of years. I love what I do. You feel like at some point that you have helped the community.”

Now, Townsend said he is ready to continue to help on a larger scale. Townsend, who is the chief magistrate, says he is resigning from the court, effective March 31. He was first elected to the bench in 1997. He is second vice president of Lions Club International and has been a member of the Dalton Noon Lions Club since 1979.

“I will try to devote the rest of my life to my family and kids and the Lions Club International and philanthropy,” Townsend said. “I know there have been people who say that ‘he travels too much,’ and I probably do. But, I’m just out there trying to get other people to help other people.”

Townsend’s resignation will open up a second vacancy in April on the four-person court. Judge Shana Vinyard has been on “voluntary paid leave” since October of last year and recently submitted her resignation to Gov. Brian Kemp, effective April 1.

Vinyard had been under investigation by the state’s Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC), and Townsend said her resignation effectively ends that investigation. Even though he is the chief judge of the court, Townsend has no authority to remove Vinyard from office. The state Supreme Court can remove, suspend, censure or enforce retirement on a judge based on recommendations from the JQC.

The selection of new judges to fill the terms of Townsend and Vinyard rests upon a majority decision of the four Superior Court judges: Chief Judge William T. Boyett, Scott Minter, Cindy Morris and Jim Wilbanks. Court Administrator Brad Butler said his office is accepting résumés through March 15 at 5 p.m.

The only qualifications to serve as a magistrate judge are at least one year of residency in the county, the individual must be at least 25 years old and must have a high school diploma or its equivalent.

Townsend said he had planned to resign at the end of 2018 but Vinyard’s absence forced him to stay. Vinyard is the second judge to resign while Townsend has been chief magistrate. Kaye Cope resigned in 2016 after she was arrested for DUI shortly after leaving a court session.

“It’s been hard to deal with because the voters think I have the authority to discipline judges and I don’t,” Townsend said. “The only authority the chief has over the other magistrates is to try to keep the peace between the judges if there is a disagreement and to run the office and deal with the personnel who work in the office. I am not technically anyone’s boss for someone who is elected — the voters are.”

Townsend said he hopes new judges will be selected quickly and the court restored to its full number. He said last year more than 14,000 cases came through Magistrate Court, and a judge is on call 24 hours a day to handle arrest and search warrants for law enforcement.

“You need this court,” Townsend said. “It runs very well. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, every case comes through this office in somehow or some way. Statewide, Magistrate Court deals with more than one million cases each year, so if you take it out of the equation you can see how things would just grind to a halt, and a lot of people don’t know exactly what we do.”

Now, Townsend looks forward to moving away from being an impartial arbiter to continue being an advocate for others.

“Kindness matters,” Townsend said of his message with the Lions Club. “If we would all just remember that and practice it, we would all be a lot better off.”