Cotton keeps her judicial seat

Judge Lori Cotton

Lori Cotton won the county court judicial seat 2, defeating William Harris, according to unofficial totals posted to the Marion County Supervisor of Elections website Tuesday evening, August 23.

Cotton received 42,628 votes, or 60.91% of the total.

Harris received 27,358 votes, or 39.09% of the total.

County court judges serve six-year terms in what is often referred to as “the people’s courts,” mainly because a large part of the courts’ work involves voluminous citizen disputes, such as traffic offenses, less serious criminal matters (misdemeanors) and relatively small monetary disputes involving $30,000 or less.

The job pays $172,015 plus benefits.

The threshold of monetary disputes is increasing from $30,000 to $50,000 on January 1, 2023, however, arguably bringing more complex civil matters to county court dockets.

Cotton raised $66,341.10 in cash contributions and expended $61,120.68, according to the last campaign records filed.

Harris raised $60,525 and expended $55,679.45.