Regional Probate Race Draws Candidates From Newtown, Bethel, And Ridgefield

By John Voket

The race for a regional probate judge’s seat will be among the local political contests to watch this year because it could pit two Newtowners against one another for the newly created position on Election Day November 2.

Local family attorney and former Newtown Legislative Council vice chairman Timothy Holian was recently chosen as the sole Democratic candidate running for the four-year regional Probate term. He will challenge one of three incumbent Republican judges who will vie for their own party’s favor in a primary Tuesday, August 10.

That race will pit Newtown Probate Judge Moira Rodgers against Bethel Probate Judge Daniel O’Grady, and Ridgefield Probate Judge Joseph Egan, Jr.

All four probate candidates recently spoke with The Newtown Bee, and the single common issue that surfaced among all four candidates early-on in their individual sessions was the uncomfortable nature of a judicial official becoming embroiled in a highly political contest.

Nonetheless, all four spoke candidly about their hopes and plans if elected, as well as touting the individual qualities they hope to bring to this office, which will be based in Bethel and eventually serve 78,000 constituents from the towns of Newtown, Redding, Bethel, and Ridgefield.

In his interview, Mr Holian likened the scope of this year’s regional probate race with a run for Congress, even though he was unsuccessful in his local bid for Newtown’s probate seat last November.

“Running in four towns is a different dynamic — there are so many people to meet and to inform you are running,” he said. “And at this point I don’t know who I’m running against.”

Mr Holian said although he has never served as a judge, he currently has clients of his family law practice who reside in each of the four towns involved in the recently established Northern Fairfield County Probate District. And he has represented a number of them in all three of the local probate jurisdictions during his 27 years on the job.

“Over the course of the past 27 years, the most substantial part of my practice has been probate work,” Mr Holian said.

In that time he has studied the nuances of the probate system and has developed a deep respect and affection for what he describes as “Connecticut’s family court system.”

“I like it because it is a bit less structured than the Superior Court system,” he said. “It’s more forgiving of the participants — the informality has a particular attraction to me.”

He said the probate system provides a venue to apply state law, but in an atmosphere that helps its constituents feel more comfortable, and therefore more candid, with procedures that are ultimately more flexible than any other state court.

“It’s also the court that most frequently deals with people who are at a crisis point — dealing with the loss of a spouse, the care of a sick parent, or issues related to parental rights or adoptions,” Mr Holian said, adding that he offers the experience of having worked on cases involving virtually every probate function “except issuing a passport.”

“There’s not much that goes on in a probate court that I haven’t done,” he said. “The most difficult part of this will be convincing the electorate that 27 years in probate practice provided me as much experience in the job as being a judge.”

Having already worked with each of his three possible opponents, Mr Holian acknowledged that “all three are excellent judges.” The local attorney also stated that if he is elected he will abandon his own law practice in favor of being a full-time probate judge.

“A district with 78,000 people demands that level of undivided attention,” he said. “If it is necessary, and communities make the space available, I will ride the circuit as need demands.”

Mr Holian said he will also consider making “house calls” in specific situations where an infirm constituent may require court proceedings come to them.

Rodgers’ Sole Focus

Newtown’s incumbent Probate Judge Moira Rodgers said she would go beyond that, pledging to also devote herself exclusively to the job and bringing the court where ever it may be necessary to best serve its constituents.

“Going back to my campaign [for the Newtown probate seat] last November, I was the only one who has consistently said this court will be my sole focus,” Judge Rodgers said. “When you consider I would be going from a court serving 28,000 to 78,000 people, I think maintaining a sole focus is a very important distinction.”

And while the permanent probate court will reside in Bethel, Judge Rodgers said, “I have promised to travel to other towns as needed. If you are elderly, infirm, or if you have children, I’m going to come to you to make what is typically a difficult situation as comfortable as possible.”

Judge Rodgers also believes bringing a “female perspective” to probate proceedings is an advantage.

“I approach matters differently first because 60 percent of what I do involves family law. When it comes to things like determining guardianship and termination of parental rights it helps to have a female’s perspective.

“I’m a mom, and while I recognize the law always comes first, you do bring a human perspective to it,” Judge Rodgers continued. “I may be able to relate better with a young child caught in the middle of a bad family situation.”

Another strong benefit Judge Rodgers said she brings above and beyond her challengers is overseeing the recent relocation of Newtown’s Probate Court from Edmond Town Hall to the new Municipal Center. If elected, Ms Rodgers expects the regional court will hire two or three additional clerks beyond the one full-timer and one part-timer she currently oversees.

“On the business side, I’ve actually managed as many as seven staffers at one time,” she said. “And while I had no previous experience [managing] court clerks before last fall, after some training by one of the state’s best probate staffs in Danbury, I helped bring all the Newtown court’s records up to date within six months of our relocation.”

In terms of her campaigning, Judge Rodgers is aware that she is facing the same challenge of building name recognition in the other three jurisdictions as her Republican challengers will have. That means she has, and will continue spending, substantial time in all four probate district communities knocking on doors and introducing herself.

“So far people in all the towns have been incredibly nice and receptive,” she told The Bee. And while her tenure on the probate bench is the shortest among her Republican colleagues, she said in the course of her face-to-face visits, “I have not encountered any concern or issues over any lack of experience.”

Having been admitted to the bar in 1985, Judge Rodgers said she has been practicing law as long as the longest-tenured Republican candidate, Judge O’Grady of Bethel.

“The bottom line is that I love this job, and hope I can continue representing Newtown as well as the region,” Judge Rodgers concluded.

Building Recognition

While Bethel Probate Judge O’Grady said he was able to go “door-to-door to most of [Bethel],” he admitted that between his court duties and private practice, “going to every home in four communities is impossible.”

Nonetheless, Judge O’Grady agreed that however it can be accomplished, “Because probate candidates are little known outside their own communities, building name recognition” is what it will take to carry the regional election.

As a result, he is depending on conventional signs, mailings, and phone bank calling, which he has employed as a standard practice in previous local probate contests in Bethel.

Judge O’Grady said that the added challenge of appealing to voters, and just getting them to come to the polls for a regional probate primary, comes as a result of few people knowing what a probate court does, outside of those with previous personal experience in the system.

In his tenure on the probate bench, Judge O’Grady believes his consummate talent is “officiating between parties at odds in contested matters.” So whether it involves performing marriages, administrating name changes, or making final decisions about parental custody, the removal of parental rights and conservatorships, he has the necessary experience to expand duties to serve the entire region.

He also acknowledged that the probate primary race in the region is unique because “you have three judges all elected in their own right, who are already doing the job.” But when measuring himself beside Judge Egan in Ridgefield, Judge O’Grady feels he has an edge because of his age.

“I have 14 more years of eligibility, and while my 20 years of experience is the same as Egan, he only has six more years of eligibility,” Judge O’Grady said. “By electing me, there is less of a chance that the [Republican Party[ will lose the power of incumbency.”

Judge O’Grady added that the combination of the age restriction, and the fact that Judge Egan, if elected, cannot recommend a replacement should be a factor in voters’ minds. “And having four years in the regional position would give me the opportunity to build my reputation and recognition throughout the four towns.”

In regard to bringing his services where required, Judge O’Grady said he is willing to travel to meet clients throughout the four towns as required on a case-by-case basis. And he said he is willing to transfer his personal legal practice case load to a colleague for a minimum of six months, so he can devote his full attention to the court’s consolidation and transition.

After that, Judge O’Grady said he would consider returning to handling private legal clients.

“I know several judges in larger jurisdictions who still maintain their own practices,” he concluded. “But if I am elected, the court comes first.”

Not Political

Ridgefield and Redding’s Probate Judge Joseph Egan views the politics of his position as a means to an end.

“It’s not really a political job, except that you have to get elected,” he said. “Thirty-nine of our 50 states still elect judges.”

As an attorney since 1971 and a probate judge since 1990, Judge Egan said his campaign strategy involves “trying to accentuate the positives and that means not talking about my opponents.”

While his legal practice initially involved all facets of the law, Judge Egan soon gravitated to family and property law, which he said made the transition to probate judge duties virtually seamless.

“I had been an appointee of other probate judges for some time acting as an attorney for executors, and being appointed to serve as a conservator or attorney ad litem,” he said. “And I was recommended because I had so much experience working with the probate courts.”

Judge Egan brings a unique set of credentials to bear in the regional race, because he is not only involved locally in his own practice and probate cases, but because he is also active in the Connecticut Probate Assembly, and by extension the National College of Probate Judges.

He served on the national organization’s Executive Committee since 2001, and was elected its president in 2007 and 2008 — one of only two Connecticut judges to serve in that capacity in more than 40 years.

As a result, he will offer instrumental guidance as the national college continues to work on a uniform standard for interstate guardianships, and was the only judge submitting testimonial to the Connecticut Senate on the issue, which subsequently received a favorable ruling from the Senate Judiciary Committee this year.

“Adopting this law would clear up jurisdictional issues for both clients and judges,” he explained, adding it would put an end to a practice known as “granny snatching.”

“I see a lot more of that here in Ridgefield because we are bordered by New York State,” Judge Egan said. “It’s most important because we need to be sure people who are not capable of managing their own affairs still have their money and themselves being taken care of.”

Judge Egan said that since the job of probate judge is “basically organization and delegation, with 80 percent of the administrative work being performed by the clerks,” he is open to continuing his private law practice. He said he knows he has the experience to handle the step up from his current jurisdiction to the larger regional post because he has already served concurrently as a backup judge in Norwalk since 1996.

“Most of the busiest Connecticut probate courts do not have full-time judges,” Judge Egan said. And while he is not in favor of maintaining satellite courts in each of the four regional communities, Judge Egan said he foresees travel on a case-by-case basis as a necessity to best serve the constituencies of the newly formed district.

What he would fight for, if elected, is a system already in place in other states called “Court Call,” which creates a telephone-based system by which some remote business could be administrated from a judge’s base office.

“It’s not for hearings, but could serve us well for things like a simple motion,” Judge Egan said, adding that he would also love to see providing probate clients with the ability to actually file documents online, which is already being done at the Superior Court level now.