§ 9-15-15.Attorney’s fees and expenses assessed in civil actions brought against judicial officers

This section is a purpose-built cousin of Code Section 9-15-14, aimed specifically at suits against judges. Subsection (a) covers a civil action brought against a judicial officer — defined broadly to include appellate justices and judges along with judges of the superior, state, probate, juvenile, magistrate, and municipal courts — arising out of the performance of that officer’s official duties. If the action concludes in the officer’s favor and the court finds that an attorney or party brought an action that lacked substantial justification (again defined as substantially frivolous, groundless, or vexatious) or that was interposed for delay or harassment, the plaintiff becomes liable for all of the attorney’s fees and expenses incurred defending the case. The section carves out quo warranto and mandamus actions, along with federal civil-rights suits brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, none of which this section reaches.

Subsection (b) makes clear the rule isn’t limited to suits against a judge in an official capacity — it applies equally to suits against a judicial officer individually, so long as the action still arises from the performance of official duties. Subsection (c) spells out who can recover: the state or a local government unit for fees it incurred, whether through outside counsel or its own in-house counsel, and the judicial officer personally for fees incurred directly, with recovery reaching fees generated on appeal as well as at the trial level.

Subsection (d) sets up a screening procedure with an important twist compared to the indigence screening in Code Section 9-15-2. There, the clerk withholds filing entirely until a judge reviews the pleading. Here, the clerk files the action but routes the complaint to the district court administrator for the circuit (or, for a suit against an appellate judge or justice, to the chief judge or justice of that court) for assignment to a reviewing judge. If that judge finds the pleading shows a complete absence of any justiciable issue of law or fact, the judge dismisses the pleading rather than denying its filing outright — a distinction that matters because the action was already on the docket. Either way, the order is appealable just like an order dismissing an action. As with Code Section 9-15-14, a motion for fees under this section must come within 45 days of final disposition, and the award is decided by the court rather than a jury and is enforceable as a money judgment.