This is the fourth of a series about proposed amendments to the city charter that will go before voters in the March 4 municipal election. Tuesday: Rank-choice voting. Wednesday: Public financing of campaigns. Thursday: Fewer signatures required for direct democracy measures. Today: Municipal judges required to have law license. Saturday: Mayor to vote in more instances.

A court whose judges have been known for policies of turkeys for tickets and pink hats for drunk drivers could be noted for being the latest in the state to require municipal judges also be attorneys.

A measure to make that change in the city charter is among seven proposed amendments to the city's governing document that will be on the municipal election ballot March 4.

Although the Municipal Court handles a variety of misdemeanor cases, few qualifications exist for the presiding judge. The city charter specifies only that a candidate for judge be a registered voter in the city.

Until Ann Yalman was appointed to the position two years ago, none of the city's judges had been members of the New Mexico Bar. Some of the judges have operated in unorthodox ways, including Tom Fiorina, who allowed residents to pay off fines with frozen turkeys later donated to charities during the holiday season, and Frances Gallegos, who sent defendants with anger problems to tea ceremonies and had those convicted of certain crimes wear color-coded hats while doing community service.

Gallegos' term on the bench ended bitterly with her resignation in the face of felony records-tampering charges in connection with city court files. The charges later were dismissed by a state district judge who said she showed ignorance of the law but not criminal intent.

But the head of the city-appointed group that recommended the proposed charter amendments said discussion about the proposal had little to do with Gallegos.

"I don't remember her name being mentioned. It was just on everybody's list of things to amend," said Jim Harrington, an attorney who has worked on election reform and ethics for about five years. "We just figured when a person's liberty is at stake, the city owes them the best chance they can get of getting fair and legal judgment."

Yalman served the rest of Gallegos' term and is up for re-election in the same spring election in which the charter amendment will be voted on. She faces no opponent.

Defense attorney Tom Clark said he's in favor of an amendment that would require city judges to be lawyers. Yalman is a stand out compared with past judges, he said.

"She is doing a great job because she has a real understanding of how the law works and how different branches of government are supposed to interact and the way the court is supposed to work," Clark said. "What she has brought to that municipal judgeship is a degree of respectability that it was totally lacking before. It certainly can't hurt to require that lawyers be in that position."

All state District Court judges, who are appointed by the governor, must be attorneys, but all county magistrate and most municipal court systems don't have that requirement.

Statistics from the state Judicial Standards Commission indicate municipal and magistrate judges have had more verified complaints than judges in District Court. However, Jim Noel, executive director of the commission, said the commission doesn't have a position on whether judges should have law degrees.

City Attorney Frank Katz said clear legal authority exists for the city to make such a requirements of candidates for judge. State statutes permit cities to set qualifications, and both Albuquerque Metropolitan and Las Cruces Municipal Courts require judges to be attorneys.

The proposed amendment would be effective immediately, which means all candidates in the 2012 election would have to meet the requirement. Judges are paid a $65,000 salary for each year of a four-year term.