COUNTRY SINGER Garth Brooks had a huge hit a few years back with "I've Got Friends in Low Places." These days Cobb judicial candidates Carl Bowers, Reuben Green and perhaps Jason Fincher are singing their own version of that song, one that could be titled "I've Got Friends in High Places." And so it goes in the Byzantine world of Cobb judicial politics.

Three up-and-coming local attorneys were off and running this spring for the seat on Cobb State Court that was to be vacated this fall by incumbent Judge Beverly Collins, who had made known for months that she did not plan to seek another term when her current one expires at the end of this year. Rebecca Keaton, Jason Fincher and Reuben Green were holding fundraisers and lining up support in preparation of qualifying June 30 for the Nov. 4 non-partisan election.

But a not-too-funny thing happened to Keaton and perhaps Fincher on their way to the starting gate: Collins decided to step down early. Her husband, Cobb District Attorney Pat Head, tells AT she had an offer to go to work for a mediation service, but would have to start there by September. So rather than serve out her term, she announced that she will be retiring in June. That will give her several months to enjoy sitting around the pool with her grandchildren before going back to work, Head said.

GOP politicos tell AT that Gov. Sonny Perdue likely will take care of Bowers (who is the son of former Georgia Attorney General Mike Bowers) by appointing him to Collins' judgeship, which handles jury-trial cases. And Perdue will then take care of Green, (whose wife, Heidi, is deputy commissioner of the global commerce division at the Georgia Department of Economic Development) by naming him to Bowers' current slot as a Cobb State Court Division II (non-jury trial) judge.

Head stressed to AT that he is not masterminding this game of judicial musical chairs, but he makes no bones about his support for assistant U.S. prosecutor Green, who formerly worked for him and who was assigned to the courtroom of Judge Adele Grubbs.

So what does all this mean to John Q. Citizen and judicial wannabes like Keaton and perhaps Fincher? It means there will be no election in November and no race for those judgeships until November 2012. And although Keaton is hollering "foul," she says you can count on her to run against Bowers that year.

Fincher, an assistant prosecutor, now plans to run for the Division II State Court judgeship that incumbent Nancy Campbell is vacating. Former assistant Superior and State Court prosecutor Marsha Lake is already running for that job. But Campbell is said to be mulling whether to step down early. If she follows Collins' lead and resigns, it would cancel the November election and open up another judicial slot for Perdue to fill. That would undercut Lake - but maybe not Fincher. Some think Fincher would have the advantage because his campaign manager - Gannon Gingrey Manning - is daughter of U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Marietta), an ally of the governor.

Meanwhile, some suggest Collins' early resignation was pushed by Head because it gives the governor two politically desirable judicial slots to fill. And Head, they say, is angling for the governor to appoint him to fill Judge Alan Blackburn's seat on the state Court of Appeals when he retires to east Cobb this summer.

Head was one of 47 who were nominated either by themselves or by others last June for appointment by Perdue to the state Supreme Court. He was not picked, but some suggest his interest in that job indicates he might be interested in the appellate court judgeship as well.

Head, who has no plans to run for another term as D.A., retorts that he is not interested in the court of appeals. He reminded AT that Perdue has never appointed anyone to the Supreme Court who is older than 55, and reassured us that he is well over the governor's self-imposed age limit.

Meanwhile, State Court Judge Rusty Carlisle is expected to resign early next year, but when? Sources tell AT that will come down to who the next governor is. They say he is no fan of Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, who some see as the GOP gubernatorial front-runner. If Oxendine wins the election, Carlisle might resign before his swearing-in Jan. 20, to let lame-duck Perdue make the appointment. (Of course, he could also time the decision and let the new governor make the selection.)

Those who are not close to the governor accuse him of meddling in Cobb elections and making a mockery of the fact that Georgia is supposed to be a state where judges are elected, not appointed. Politicos know, however, that judges in Georgia routinely resign early in order to give the governor an appointment to make. In fact, that habit is as common as kudzu.

A RELIABLE SOURCE tells AT that KSU's police chief, Ted Cochran, gave Jessica Colotl a ride home after immigration officials released her in Atlanta. (They had transported her to Alabama, and then apparently back to Atlanta.) Cochran's chauffeuring duties were reportedly of his choosing, after he put the kibosh on a grander plan that would have seen her paraded back in a Kennesaw State University van, accompanied by her sorority sisters, with advance media notice.

Plans to make a big splash of Colotl's return reportedly were batted around at meeting of top KSU officials, including Dr. Jerome Ratchford, VP of Student Success and Enrollment Services, who is a member of President Dr. Dan Papp's cabinet. Also said to be in attendance was a top PR spokesperson for the state Board of Regents or the college.

Cochran reportedly suggested a low-key return would be preferable and volunteered to pick up Colotl on his own time and in his own vehicle. Cochran, 66, is a retired Cobb police officer known as "a cop's cop."

AT had heard that the larger plan was conceived in part by a KSU or Board of Regents public relations flak, and gave a call in an attempt to verify.

"I haven't heard that one," said John Vanchella, a Regents spokesman.

He did, though, repeat this for us a few times: "The (University System of Georgia) follows current Georgia and federal law. This means that undocumented students are not precluded from applying and being admitted, however they must pay out-of-state tuition and cannot access state or federal aid such as HOPE and Pell Grants."

But he stumbled on an exact definition of "undocumented."

"If you have a student visa, you're documented. If you're a permanent resident, you're documented," Vanchella said.

So - once again - what is "undocumented"?

We suspect he - and the rest of the Regents Powers That Be - can't bring themselves to connect these rather elementary dots: Someone who cannot provide a valid Social Security number and has no papers proving s/he is here legally isn't here legally and thus has no business on a publicly funded college campus, no matter how much tuition they pay.

The Regents seem mired in whether illegal aliens at Georgia colleges deserve in-state or out-of-state tuition, when the real question is why they are allowed to enroll at all. After all, federal law clearly spells out that illegal aliens are not eligible to be recipients of "public benefits," and goes on to state that a college education is considered "a public benefit." It's hard to be more clear than that.

The Colotl story has prompted intense interest on the part of MDJ readers, with almost 35,000 visits to the MDJonline website since it began.

TWO COBB CHAMBER OF COMMERCE directors who read Around Town's account Saturday of the Chamber-run Cobb Development Authority lavishing more than $500,000 in public money on the private Chamber say they knew nothing about the authority's near-secret generosity. ATreported that the seven-member authority has been picking up the Chamber's tab for billboard, magazine and movie theater ads and magazine costs for the last five years. Apparently, the Authority's largesse was shrouded in secrecy from everyone but a bare handful of Chamber insiders. In fact, nowhere do the movie and billboards ads suggest they were paid for with Authority with public money. Chamber CEO Don Beaver, who also serves as executive director of the Development Authority, says the Authority and Chamber are partners and the ads help lure new businesses to Cobb.

However, one of the billboard ads submitted to the MDJ by the Cobb Chamber trumpets "Bank Locally: Fortify Your Future" and prominently features the words "Bank of North Georgia" and the bank's logo. Several key North Georgia Bank executives, including Kessel Stelling and current Chamber Chairman Rob Garcia, have been top Chamber leaders in recent years.

No other banks - many of whom are Chamber members - were featured on the billboards.

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POLITICAL PLATTER: A fund-raising barbecue for Cobb Eastern District County Commission candidate Earl Stine will be Thursday from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the 453 Kelley Drive residence in Marietta of Jim Carroll. ... The KSU College of Science and Mathematics will host a pair of gubernatorial candidate forums. The Democratic candidates' forum is Thursday from 6 to 7 p.m. The Republican candidates' forum will be May 27, from 6 to 7 p.m.

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THE "FOREVER REMEMBER" SILENT ART AUCTION will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at The Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art. Proceeds will benefit the Forever Remember Statue and The Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art. There will be light hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar.