Council of State Court Judges newsletter [Vol. 9, no. 2 (Fall 2003)]

Council of
State Court Judges
Newsletter

Volume 9, Issue 2

Fall 2003

State Bar of Georgia Honors Judge Ron Ginsberg with Professionalism Award

The State Bar of Georgia honored Chatham County State Court Judge Ron Ginsberg with the Bench and Bar Professionalism Award at its Annual Meeting on June 13. This award honors one lawyer and one judge in this state who have and continue to demonstrate the highest professional conduct and paramount reputation for professionalism. Judge Ginsberg is the second recipient of this award.
Judge Ginsberg has served as a trial judge on the Chatham County State Court bench since May, 1995. He also previously served in the Georgia House of Representatives and as City Attorney for the City of Pooler and Town of Thunderbolt. Judge Ginsberg attended Armstrong Junior College (now ArmstrongAtlantic State University) and received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Georgia. He practiced law in Savannah from 1971 until his appointment to the Bench by former governor Zell Miller.

Judge Ginsberg, right, receives the State Bar of Georgia's Professionalism Award from Bar President James B. Durham.

Article and picture reprinted with permission from the State Bar of Georgia.

Certified Family Violence Intervention Program
Effective July 1, 2003, pursuant to OCGA 19-13-16(a) State Court judges are required to order family violence offenders to participate in a certified family violence intervention program (FVIP). Lack of certified providers and court support makes compliance with this law difficult, but the Georgia Commission on Family Violence (GCFV) is working to help you.
We need you to: 1) refer FV offenders to certified FVIPs and monitor their progression through the FVIP 2) inform your probation departments about this new requirement 3) work with your local family violence community task force to obtain certification of FVIPs
Email or call GCVF with your concerns, challenges and solutions. You may send email to Judge Little at jlittle@troupco.org or call GCVF at (404) 657-3412.

What's Inside

From the President 2003-2004 Officers All About the Council Mock Trial Notes Fall Conference
Educational Agenda Fall Conference
Committee Schedule Technology Committee Lexis Lunch-N-Learn CJCC Seeks Comments Brasstown Valley
Pictures Meet the New Judges

pg 2 pg 3 pg 4 pg 5
pg 6
pg 7 pg 8 pg 9 pg 9
pg 10 pg 12

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State Court Judges Newsletter

From the President...

Dear Friends and Colleagues:
It is a privilege and a pleasure to have become your President. I am also fortu-
nate to be able to announce that Judge John Salter, Albany, Dougherty County, is now our President-Elect. However, for us to be effective as a Ed Carriere council we need everyone's involvement not just two new faces at the table. Please consider participation at the district level and on council committees. While some committees tend to be busier than others, all of them contribute to our collective knowledge. Please let me know if you desire to serve on any particular committee and I will do my best to accommodate you. You can find the current committee assignments on our web site at www.georgiacourts.org/state. Please also check out our web site for many other helpful items including conference

and meeting information, our criminal law update, senior judge availability and much more.
I would also like to bring to your attention two important Council programs; our Mock Trial and Judge For The Day programs. We need volunteers to be Mock Trial judges during the regional, state and national competitions. We also need for you to come to the State Capitol during the legislative session to represent our interests. Both programs will continue to see success with your participation. Please see the Mock Trial notice in this newsletter and the call for Judge For The Day in our next one for more information.
I also ask that you advocate State Court interests to all relevant committees, commissions and organizations

that you may be involved in whether they are community, legislatively or judicially based. It is important for everyone, particularly folks outside of the judiciary, to know who we are and, through you, learn of the work done by their state courts.
As mentioned in our latest mailing, a most important issue that we are dealing with as a Council at this time is assessing the affect of and preparing a potential response to the newly established statewide Indigent Defense system. This is particularly important with regard to state court participation and funding issues. I urge you to please send in the Indigent Defense Survey that was sent to you if you have not done so. It is important that all of our members are heard on this far ranging issue.
Thank you for allowing me to serve as your President and I look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas as I see you throughout the year.
Ed Carriere State Court of DeKalb County

Benchbook Committee Notes

After successfully revising the State Court Benchbook Supplement last year, we will be looking towards having final revisions and new additions by our next spring conference at Brasstown Valley. In the meantime, we will be meeting at our regularly scheduled fall conference meeting at Jekyll Island where we will be looking in depth at our current Section 2, Right To Counsel. In preparation for this meeting, will all Benchbook Committee members please review and be familiar with the following cases: State v. Pinkerton, 2003 Ga. App. LEXIS 1053 (2003)

Wayne v. State, 269 Ga. 36, 495 S.E.2d 34, 1998 Ga. LEXIS 53 (1998) Jones v. State, 272 Ga. 884, 536 S.E.2d 511, 2000 Ga. LEXIS 702 (2000) Manning v. State, 260 Ga. App. 171, 581 S.E.2d 290, 2003 Ga. App. LEXIS 362 (2003) Parks v. McClung, 271 Ga. 795, 524 S.E.2d 718, 1999 Ga. LEXIS 1031 (1999), overruled by Barnes v. State, 275 Ga. 499, 570 S.E.2d 277, 2002 Ga. LEXIS 825 (2002)
Wayne Purdom State Court of DeKalb County Chair, Benchbook Committee

A Message from Justice
Benham
Thank you for your expression of concern and your get-well wishes during my recent illness. My family and I were comforted by the many calls, cards, flowers, gifts and visits. Most importantly, I continue
to be strengthened by the many prayers that were sent
up on my behalf.

State Court Judges Newsletter

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Congratulations to our 2003-2004 Officers!

President Judge Ed Carriere DeKalb County

President-Elect Judge John Salter Dougherty County

Secretary Judge Ben Studdard Henry County

Treasurer Judge Brenda H. Cole Fulton County

Immediate Past President Judge Melodie Clayton Cobb County

District 1 Judge Jack E. Carney, Jr. Bryan County

District 2 Judge Sam Edgar Bacon County

District 3 Judge Kelly D. Turner Lowndes County

District 4 Judge Fletcher Sams Fayette County

District 5 Judge Richard Slaby Richmond County

District 6 Judge Joseph Iannazzone Gwinnett County

District 7 Judge Henry M. Newkirk Fulton County

District 8 Judge Melodie Clayton Cobb County

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All About the Council

Our condolences go out to the families of former State Court Judges William H. Alexander (Fulton), R. Stan Gault (Forsyth) and Robert M. Heard (Elbert) on their passing. The Council would also like to wish Chief Judge Gober (Cherokee) and Angela Watkins, wife of Judge Watkins (Richmond), speedy recoveries from their surgeries. Our best wishes also go out to former Judge Chambers (Hall) and to former Judge Fuller (Gwinnett) who have both left the bench to pursue other endeavors.
Congratulations to Judge Iannazzone (Gwinnett) who has been selected by Chief Justice Fletcher to serve on the Georgia Commission on Dispute Resolution and to Judge Todd (Rockdale) who has been selected by Chief Justice Fletcher to serve on the Georgia Board of Court Reporting. Our thanks goes out to all of the State Court judges who showed interest in these positions. Judge Iannazzone is our first commission member to the Georgia Commission on Dispute Resolution after former State Court Judge Hamil (Gwinnett) served on its Uniformity Task Force and Judge Todd follows Judge Peppers (Walker) who served the Board of Court Reporting in an admirable fashion.
Congratulations to Judges Lawrence (Clarke) and Little (Troup) who have been appointed to the Drug Court Advisory Committee of the Judicial Council of Georgia by Supreme Court Justice Robert Benham. The Committee, chaired by Justice Benham, will advise policymakers, judges and officials who work in drug courts on strategies to prevent and reduce substance abuse and its results.

Please take note that Judge Iannazzone (Gwinnett) has replaced Chief Judge Benefield (Clayton) as Chair of our Technology/Computer Committee and that Judge Prodgers (Cobb) has replaced Chief Judge Cook (Gwinnett) as Chair of our Case Counting Standards Committee. We wish to thank both Chief Judge Benefield and Chief Judge Cook for all of their hard work in furtherance of our Council.
Our best wishes and thanks go out to Judge Chafin (Henry), who has recently returned from a deployment to Southwest Asia, and to the son of Judge Sams (Fayette), who has recently been deployed. Judge Chafin was assigned to the headquarters staff for the Commander of Central Command Air Forces and Judge Sams' son serves with the Army's 173rd Airborne Division.
Congratulations to Judge Lawrence (Clarke) on his induction into the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame on April 29th in Dallas, Texas. On the second play of the 1967 game, he made a 74 yard touchdown run which deflated Southern Methodist University's morale and then continued on to rush for a total 149 yards in Georgia's 24-9 victory.
Don't be surprised if you see Judge Adams (Bibb) and Senior Judge Phillips (Bibb) in the next great television documentary or Hollywood movie. This summer, the Arts and Entertainment Channel televised a City Confidential story on a famous crime in Macon which included appearances by both of them. We only ask that they invite us to the festivities when they put their handprints in the cement at Mann's Chinese Theater.

State Court Judges Newsletter
Recently Judge DelCampo (DeKalb) had an unexpected visitor drop in on him ... literally! While awaiting a hearing, an inmate climbed up into a bathroom ceiling in an attempt to escape. While working his way through the ceiling crawl space, he fell more than 10 feet and landed in the middle of Judge DelCampo's chambers while his computer was being serviced. The inmate was captured a short time later while, allegedly, awaiting the quick and efficient DeKalb Courthouse elevators.
Picture reprinted with permission from the State Bar of Georgia.
The Women & Minorities in the Profession Committee of the State Bar of Georgia, the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys, Kilpatrick Stockton LLP and Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan LLP co-sponsored a Clerkship Symposium for law students on how to achieve a clerkship and how to make the most of the experience. Panelists for this Clerkship Symposium, which was held in April, included Judge Cole (Fulton), Judge Brown-Reynolds (Fulton), and Judge DelCampo (DeKalb). (see picture above)
Judge Panos (DeKalb) hosted and moderated a public information meeting on April 11th in Decatur where representatives from government, law enforcement and non-profit volunteer organizations talked about recourse for victims of domestic violence. Judge Newkirk (Fulton) served as a presenter on the State Court of Fulton County's criminal division to attendees at the
continued on pg 5

State Court Judges Newsletter

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Mock Trial Committee Notes

Unfortunately due to personal commitments made a long time ago, I will not be able to attend our fall conference at Jekyll Island this year. As a result, we will not be having a Mock Trial Committee meeting at that time. However, our committee did want to again thank all of you who participated to contribute to a highly successful season last year. We want to continue this success by urging you to please sign up in the capacity of judge (most needed), coach or regional coordinator assistant for this upcoming season.
Hence, what follows are the signup deadlines followed by the major season deadlines:

Signup Deadlines:

Major Deadlines for the Season:

Attorney coaches are needed for highschool teams throughout Georgia. Serve as a mentor to a team in your area and make a positive impact in your community! CLE credit is available for coaching a mock trial team. Contact the mock trial office before 1 November 2003 for more information.
Presiding Judges are needed for Regional Competitions throughout the State in late February. Contact the mock trial office before 15 January 2004 for more information.
Presiding Judges are needed for the State Finals competition in Lawrenceville 13 March 2004 veteran high school mock trial judges only, please. Contact the mock trial office before 15 February 2004 for more information.
Presiding Judges are needed for the National Tournament in Orlando, FL on 5-9 May 2004 veteran high school mock trial judges only, please. Contact the mock trial office before 1 March 2004 for more information.
Contact Information for Mock Trial
Please sign up by contacting Stacy Rieke as soon as possible.
Stacy Rieke State Mock Trial Coordinator Young Lawyers Division/State Bar of Georgia 104 Marietta Street, NW, Suite 100 Atlanta, GA 30303-2934 (404)527-8779 or toll free at (800) 334-6865 ext. 779
fax (404) 527-8717 email mocktrial@gabar.org website: www.gabar.org/mocktrial.asp

1 October 2003 Registration deadline for mock trial teams Application deadline for Law Academy
6-9 November 2003 6th Annual Law Academy at UGA Law School, Athens
TBD January 2003 Presiding Judge and Evaluator training session
1 December 2003 Target delivery date for 2004 case materials
9 February 2004 deadline for all Contest registrations
20/21 or 27/28 February 2004 Regional Competition dates only one Saturday or Friday/Saturday combination will affect a region. Regional competition date will be set by Thanksgiving.
13-14 March 2004 State Finals Competition (Lawrenceville)
1 April 2004 Target delivery date of national case
5-9 May 2004 National Tournament (Orlando, FL)
Kent Lawrence, State Court of Clarke County Chair, Mock Trial Committee

All About the Council cont.

Atlanta Bar Association's and The Atlanta Council of Younger Lawyer's program "A Map To The Courthouse" in Atlanta on May 9th. Judge Mather (Fulton) served as a panelist discussing Trial Tactics in Reference to Emergencies to attendees at the Institute for Continuing Legal Education's (ICLE) program "Urgent Legal

Matters" at The Cloister in Sea Island on August 30th. Judge Todd (Rockdale) will be teaching a regularly scheduled class on Innovative Sentencing in DUI Cases at the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada on November 3rd. He was selected by the National Judicial College to be on their faculty last year.

Judge Todd will also be speaking on November 14th in Lincoln, Nebraska to Nebraska's Impaired Driving Summit.
If you have information about yourself or your fellow Council members, please call Stephan to let him know for future editions of the newsletter.

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State Court Judges Newsletter

Fall Conference Education Agenda

Jekyll Island Club Hotel Jekyll Island, GA October 15 - 17, 2003

Wednesday, October 15, 2003

12:00 p.m. 2:00 p.m 3:00 p.m 4:00 p.m 7:00 p.m

Jury Service Improvement Initiatives Mr. Tom Munsterman, NCSC Business Meeting: Council of State Court Judges Judge Ed Carriere, DeKalb Co. State Crt. Appellate Review, Georgia Court of Appeals Judge Charlie Mikell, Court of Appeals of GA Civil Case Law Update Judge Rusty Carlisle, Cobb Co. State Crt. Group Dinner

A Look Back at Brasstown Valley
in May!

Thursday, October 16, 2003 8:00 a.m Permissible Political Conduct, Canon 7 & Rule 27
[JE] Judge Bonnie Oliver, Northern Cir. Superior Crt. Atty. Cheryl Custer, JQC of GA 9:00 a.m Discovery Abuses in High Profile Cases Judge Gino Brogdon, Atlanta Cir. Superior Crt. 10:00 a.m Criminal Case Law update Judge Ben Studdard, Henry Co. State Crt. 12:00 p.m Group Luncheon & Awards Presentation 1:00 p.m Judging & Humanities Discussion: No Enemy But Time Author: Dr. Wm. Charles Harris, Savannah
Friday, October 17, 2003 8:00 a.m Arrangements for Private Probation Services
Ms. Debra Nesbit, AOC 9:00 a.m Case Assistance Exchange
Judge Howard Cook, Gwinnett Co. State Crt. 10:00 a.m GA Evidence Review: Selected Topics
Prof. Paul Milich, GSU College of Law

State Court Judges Newsletter

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Fall Conference Committee Meetings

Jekyll Island Club Hotel Jekyll Island, GA

Tuesday, October 14, 2003 11:30am 12:30pm Budget (Judge Peppers - Chair) Judges Carriere, Doremus, Ginsberg and Lawrence [Lunch] (Location TBD)
12:00am 1:00pm Luncheon Buffet (for anyone who has arrived)
1:00pm 2:00pm Uniform Court Rules (Judge Doremus - Chair) Judges Robins, Sullivan, Thompson (Effingham) and Graves (City Court of Atlanta) [Lunch & Snacks] (Location TBD)
2:30pm 4:00pm Educational Programs (Judge McLaughlin - Chair) Judges Campbell (Bridgette Cobb), Carbo, Cole, Cook, Hamrick, Jordan, Little, Mock, Purdom, Reeves, Robins, South, Studdard and Rich Reaves [Snacks] (Location TBD)
3:00pm 4:00pm Legislative (Judges Newkirk and Slaby Co-Chairs) Judges Braun, Carriere, Castellanos, Darden, DelCampo, Dettmering, Dickinson, Doremus, Forsling, Fowler, Gillis, Ginsberg, Gober, Iannazzone, Jordan, Smith, Tanksley, Thompson (Fulton), Wong and Wynne [Snacks] (Location TBD)
4:00pm 5:30pm Strategic Planning (Judge Purdom Chair) Judges Braun, Carney, Carriere, Cole, Cook, Doremus, Ginsberg, Iannazzone, Lawrence, Little, McDuff, Peppers, Todd and Vines [Snacks] (Location TBD)

Wednesday, October 15, 2003 9:00am 10:15am Executive Committee Breakfast (Judge Carriere - President) Judges Carney, Clayton, Cole, Edgar, Iannazzone, Newkirk, Salter, Sams, Slaby, Studdard and Turner [Breakfast] (Location TBD)
9:00am 10:00am New Judge Mentoring (Judge Little - Chair) Judges Carbo, Castellanos, Cowen, Mikell, Salter, Sams, Todd and Rich Reaves [Breakfast] (Location TBD)
9:00am 10:00am Senior Judge/Judge Emeritus (TBD - Chair) Judges Carnes, Carpenter, Houston, McDuff, McLaughlin, Pace, Phillips, Slaton, Smith and Ward [Breakfast] (Location TBD)
10:15am 11:00am Personnel (Judge Cole - Chair) Judges Little, Newkirk and Vines [Snacks] (Location TBD)
10:00am 10:45am Technology/Computer (Judge Iannazzone - Chair) Judges Adams (Bibb), Benefield, Dettmering, McDuff, Sams and Studdard [Snacks] (Location TBD)
10:30am 11:00am County Probation (Judge Todd - Chair) Judges Adams (Stephens), Bankston, Cranford and Watkins [Snacks] (Location TBD)

10:45am 11:30pm Benchbook (Judge Purdom - Chair) Judges Adams (Bibb), Iannazzone, McDuff and Studdard [Snacks] (Location TBDsame room as Technology)
12:00pm MAIN PROGRAM BEGINS FOR THE DAY
2:00pm Council Business Meeting
5:00pm MAIN PROGRAM ENDS FOR THE DAY
5:00pm 5:30pm Council District Meetings Each district will simply go to a different section of the main room, step outside onto the porch or sit in the lobby. Each District Chair will let you know at the end of the Main Program.
7:00pm-9:00pm Council Dinner (Location TBD)
NOTE Council Luncheon at 12:00 noon on Thursday
If your name has accidentally been left
off of a particular committee, please call Stephan at the Council office to let him know.

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State Court Judges Newsletter

Georgia Trial Court Desktop 2000TM

Download Installation

1) If you have an IT (Information Technology) or similar department, please see them first before installing or uninstalling this program.

Registered User: superiorcourtofgeorgia (must be all lower case, no spaces) Registration Number: gacode27408 (must be all lower case, no spaces)

7) After setup is complete, an icon will be created on the desktop and the install program should tell you that the program has been setup properly.

2) If you are the CTO (Chief Technology Officer) in addition to State Court Judge, please proceed as follows:
You MUST first uninstall any previous version of the Trial Court Desktop. To do so, choose the Start button and then select Setting and Control Panel. From the Control Panel, choose Add/Remove Programs. Select any instance of Trial Court Desktop from the list and choose Remove. If you have multiple entries of the Desktop, please remove all.
Installation Directions:
1) Download the setup program from www.cx2000.com/ga/gasetup.exe.
2) Save the program to your Desktop; once it has saved, click the icon to begin installation. 3) Setup will now bring up a set of dialogue boxes asking you what programs you would like to install and where you would like to install them. Answer questions based on your preferred configuration. We recommend you take the defaults in installation.
4) If you still have a previous version of the Trial Court Desktop on your system, then you will be asked whether you would like to Modify Repair or Remove that version. Select Remove and Finish. After removal is complete, begin steps 1-5.
5) Your Registration information is as follows:

6) Call CXCorporation (336-272-3390) (Press 0 when system answers) for technical support if you experience difficulties. Their operating hours are from 9am to 5pm Monday through Friday. If you still do not get the help that you need, please feel free to call Mike Cuccarro, Staff Attorney and Technology Guru for the Council of Superior Court Judges, at (404) 6517087.

Notice: Attachments are automatically scanned for viruses.
PLEASE do not distribute this program to anyone outside your office (secretary and law clerk are OK) -- our contract requires strict adherence to the distribution policy.

Technology/Computer Committee Notes

It is a privilege to have been selected as Chair of the Technology/ Computer Committee. Harold Benefield has stepped down from this Chair and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Harold for all of the hard work that he has put in as Chair of this committee.
I urge you to please see the accompanying article detailing the installation of the June 2003 Judges' Release of the Georgia Trial Court Desktop 2000. Among other helpful items, it has the latest jury charge updates.
I also want to call your attention to our website at www.georgiacourts.org/ state/ This is an excellent resource as it includes access to updated information on meetings and travel, our criminal law update and senior judge availability. Furthermore, we will continue our search for a threaded discussion capability for the entire Council.

You may also want to review a study on courts automation in Georgia sponsored by the AOC. While the report contains some serious inaccuracies, it does provide a basis for discussion of the future of court technology efforts in Georgia. A copy of the report, entitled "Court Automation in Georgia: BearingPoint Final Report," may be found at www.georgiacourts.org where there is a link to it.
If you have any ideas or concerns, please feel free to let me know and we can take it up at our next meeting during our fall conference at Jekyll Island.
Joe Iannazzone State Court of Gwinnett County Chair, Technology/Computer Committee

State Court Judges Newsletter

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First Annual Council of State Court Judges/Lexis

Lunch-N-Learn Session and Judge Training Update

Noting that your staff attorney/law clerk is important to the smooth running of your office, I have worked with LEXIS to develop a program especially for them. On August 14th, the Council and LEXIS held our first annual Lunch-NLearn session for staff attorneys/law clerks. The successful session, attended by over 10 State Court staff attorneys/law clerks, was held in the Supreme Court of Georgia's conference room in Atlanta where the participants were able to learn new capabilities of LEXIS as well as have questions answered on well used features such as Shepard's Citations Service and CheckCite. Furthermore, they were able to earn continuing legal education

credits, meet their fellow colleagues and enjoy a free lunch.
Please remember that you and any of your staff that you deem fit have free and unlimited use of LEXIS for your judicial duties. The first step for training is to ensure that you have gone through the LearningLexis booklet that you originally received with your Password and ID. If after using the booklet, you feel the need for additional help, please call 1-800-227-9597, press extension 52111 and set up a telephonic appointment (state who you are, your ID and password). If after telephonic training, you still feel the need for additional help, please call me, and I will look into setting up more personalized

individual or group training. Furthermore, please let me know when you replace a staff attorney/law clerk so that we can get them an ID and update the account.
After successful judge trainings in Statesboro, Valdosta and other locations last year, we are currently setting up sessions in Albany, Decatur and other locations this year. We thank all of the staff attorneys/law clerks who participated in the Lunch-N-Learn and the judges who spared them the time for this training. We also look forward to making the Staff Attorney/Law Clerk Lunch-N-Learn session an annual event each year.

Legislative Committee Notice
As mentioned in a mailing this summer, we will be taking up Senate President Pro Tempore Johnson's proposed "Patriot Jury Act" at our regularly scheduled fall conference meeting at Jekyll Island. If there are any other issues that you feel need to be discussed, please let us know and we will take them up as well.
Richard Slaby State Court of Richmond County Co-Chair, Legislative Committee
Henry Newkirk State Court of Fulton County Co-Chair, Legislative Committee

Criminal Justice Coordinating Council Seeks Comments from Public and Judiciary

The Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (Council) is arranging the first of a series of regional public hearings to discuss and receive input for the State of Georgia's 4-year strategic plan for the Edward Byrne Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance Program.
The first of these meetings will be held in Savannah, GA on October 8, 2003 on the campus of Armstrong Atlantic State University (University Hall, Lecture Hall 157) from 9:00 A.M. to 11:00 A.M.
Future meetings will be determined in the upcoming weeks. Meetings are open to the public and the Council is seeking comments from the criminal justice community including law

enforcement, prosecutors, and members of the judiciary. Questions or requests for additional information concerning the meeting should be directed to the Council at 404-559-4949.
Parking and Directions have been provided via the Council's website at: www.ganet.org/cjcc
Take Note...
AOC Research respectfully requests at least one week for Judge Need Studies based on State Court casecounts. Contact Greg Arnold at 404-656-6413.

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State Court Judges Newsletter

A Look Back at Brasstown Valley in May!

State Court Judges Newsletter

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A Look Back at Brasstown Valley in May!

Welcome the New Judges!

Judge B.E. Gene Roberts was selected by Governor Perdue to fill a vacancy in the State Court of Hall County due to the creation of a full-time position to replace the associate position this past legislative session. Judge Roberts had been serving as the Chief Magistrate of Hall County prior to his selection. He holds a J.D. from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University and a B.A. in Business Administration from Georgia State University. Among other honors and activities, Judge Roberts actively served in the United States Navy from 1987-1991 and retired as a Lieutenant Commander from the Reserve in 1997.

Some of his previous experience includes serving as an Assistant District Attorney of the Northeastern Judicial Circuit and in private practice with Thompson, Fox, Chandler & Homans in Gainesville. Judge Roberts was sworn in on Tuesday, September 2nd by Governor Perdue.
Judge Craig Schwall was selected by Governor Perdue to fill a vacancy in the State Court of Fulton County due to the creation of a new full-time position this past legislative session. Judge Schwall had been serving as a full-time Magistrate of Fulton County and a Presiding Judge by

designation of the State Court of Fulton County prior to his selection. He holds a J.D. from the Emory University School of Law and a B.A. from Auburn University. Among other honors and activities, Judge Schwall has served as an Arbitrator for the Fulton County Civil Arbitration Board, Vice-Chair of the Housing Appeals Board for the City of Atlanta, a Member of the City of Atlanta's Community Relations Commission and a Member of the Board of Directors of the Georgia Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation. Some of his previous experience includes teaching as an adjunct instructor at Georgia State University's College of Public and Urban Affairs in the Department of Criminal Justice and in private practice in Atlanta. Judge Schwall was sworn in on Thursday, September 18th by Governor Perdue.

Council of State Court Judges
244 Washington Street, Suite 300 Atlanta, GA 30334

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

JUDGE ED CARRIERE President DeKalb County
JUDGE JOHN SALTER President-Elect Dougherty County
JUDGE BEN STUDDARD Secretary Henry County
JUDGE BRENDA COLE Treasurer Fulton County
JUDGE MELODIE CLAYTON Immediate Past President Cobb County
STEPHAN J. FRANK Executive Director
ASHLEY G. STOLLAR Graphic Design

JUDGE JACK E. CARNEY, JR. District 1 Bryan County
JUDGE SAM EDGAR District 2 Bacon County
JUDGE KELLY D. TURNER District 3 Lowndes County
JUDGE FLETCHER SAMS District 4 Fayette County
JUDGE RICHARD SLABY District 5 Richmond County
JUDGE JOSEPH IANNAZZONE District 6 Gwinnett County
JUDGE HENRY M. NEWKIRK District 7 Fulton County
JUDGE MELODIE CLAYTON District 8 Cobb County