Magistrate David Day, who replaced Mr Lucas in Orange, notified legal professionals at the courthouse before proceedings started that Mr Lucas died on the weekend after a short stay in hospital.

Mr Day said he had known Mr Lucas since he was a police prosecutor at Bathurst and served at Sydney Children's Court then spent time at Broken Hill.

"He was a magistrate here for nine years," Mr Day said.

However, Mr Day said it was while Mr Lucas was serving the Orange Local Court that he fell off a ladder and suffered a brain haemorrhage and a similar incident in 2017 led to him retiring, with Mr Day stepping in as his replacement.

Bathurst Local Court also paid tribute to Mr Lucas on Monday morning.

Before court proceedings started, magistrate Kevin Hockey paid tribute to Mr Lucas, saying he had served with "great distinction" and passing on his regards to Mr Lucas' family "on behalf of the court and all those present".

Afterwards, Bathurst solicitor Shane Cunningham, who trained under Mr Lucas, said he would be missed by all who knew him.

"Terry was a very compassionate, family-orientated man who dispensed justice in a very balanced way," Mr Cunningham said.

Mr Cunningham, who also represents clients in Orange, said Mr Lucas was a kind, thoughtful and generous man.

"He would give you the shirt off his back," he said.

"He was incredibly down to earth and that's what made him such a great magistrate. He could relate to people's real life experiences. He was an outstanding individual who will be very sadly missed."

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