Judge Requirements

We ask that all schools do their best to fulfill their judging requirement. We don’t really have a reservoir of judges to pull from so please do what you can to fulfill your obligation. Please be sure to include all judge restrictions such as school blocks or division restrictions. Schools are required to provide judging up to ONE (1) round past their teams’ final drop. For Speech, this means all judges are obligated through Finals. For Debate, this means all judges are obligated through the first outround in that particular event minimum.

Judging requirements are as follows:

Individual Events: 1 judge for every 6 competitors or every part thereof.

Lincoln-Douglas: 1 judge for every 2 competitors or every part thereof.

Policy: 1 judge for every 2 teams or every part thereof. Judge obligation must be fulfilled. We will NOT have any hired judging available.

Public Forum: 1 judge for every 2 teams or every part thereof.

Student Congress: 1 judge for every 8 competitors or every part thereof.

We WILL default to having judges available for both the Novice and Varsity divisions of the event. However, if you are providing a judge that cannot judge Varsity, you must specify that in the Judge Notes when adding. If this impacts our ability to utilize your judges at the tournament, you may be expected to hire judging. Please be in contact with the tournament director if you have any concerns.

A very limited amount of judges will be available for hire at the following rates, which can be added to your Tabroom invoice. This is what you are agreeing to pay for hired judges – which we will then need to find and hire judges on our own. We would MUCH rather have you provide judges, but if you must hire, these are the rates:

Individual Events: $150
Lincoln-Douglas: $200
Policy: None Available
Public Forum: $150
Student Congress: $150

The last day to hire judges will be Monday, November 2nd, 2026.