Maureen Coffey was reappointed as the municipal judge for the Town of Hilton Head Island on Tuesday.
Hilton Head Town Council made the unanimous decision to renew her contract for a three-year term with a salary of $89,610, a 3-percent pay raise. Coffey's two-year term was due to expire this month.
"I think council felt like she's been doing a good job and deserved to be reappointed," said Mayor Drew Laughlin.
Coffey won a $6-million dollar defamation suit in June 2012 against George Breed, Sea Pines' former security chief, and the development's property owners association. The lawsuit followed an investigation after a series of burglaries beginning in 2004 in which Coffey's brother was a suspect.
The lawsuit did not factor into council's decision Tuesday night, Laughlin said.
Coffey has recused herself from hearing Sea Pines cases since Feb. 1, 2009.
Bluffton municipal court judge Fletcher Johnson heard cases involving Sea Pines until his death in December. Beaufort County Magistrate Terry Finger, who also serves as Bluffton's town attorney, has heard most of those cases since then.
The remaining cases were covered by Magistrate Beth Prince.
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