Judging Requirements

We require teams to bring one judge for every 3 Lincoln-Douglas debaters or fraction thereof. Teams must bring one judge for every 3 Public Forum teams or fraction thereof. For all Speech events and Student Congress, teams must bring one judge for every 5 entries or fraction thereof. Judges in debate are obligated to judge one round past the last round in which their students are active. Judges in speech are obligated to judge for all elimination rounds. If you have completed your school’s judging obligation, please inform the tab room if you are unwilling to take further assignments.

A number of judges will be available for hire. Requesting a hired judge does not guarantee that the request will be accepted. The hired judge charge for all speech events is $40.00 per uncovered entry. For Lincoln Douglas or Public Forum debate judges, the charge is $75.00 per uncovered entry. Acceptances will be sent by email via tabroom.com.

Schools whose judges fail to appear for an assigned round may be fined $25 for a prelim or $50 for an elimination round at the tournament’s discretion. These fines will be given to the judges who pick up your ballots, and are non-negotiable; please listen for announcements and be on-site for rounds. We will also ask for judge cell phone numbers at registration; being able to contact judges quickly and directly will help us stay on time.

Competitors from any school with outstanding fines will not advance to elimination rounds, nor may the school pick up awards or ballots until they have settled their balance.