October 2025

Happy Halloween, Georgia Courts Journal Readers! 

October is the heart of college football season and the heart of court council fall meeting season. Several court councils met in Athens this month: the Council of Municipal Court Judges, the Council of Magistrate Court Judges, and the Council of Juvenile Court Judges. Taking a different tack, the Council of State Court Judges convened in Pine Mountain, and the Council of Probate Court Judges met in Savannah. Our hats off to the Institute of Continuing Judicial Education for managing all of those important events. At its fall meeting, the Council of State Court Judges presented the Ogden Doremus/Kent Lawrence Award—the Council’s highest distinction for a State Court judge—to Wayne County State Court Judge Vi Bennett. The award was presented by McIntosh County State Court Judge C. Jean Bolin who commended Judge Bennett’s years of dedicated service to the bench and her active involvement in her community.  Presented by Bibb County State Court Chief Judge Jeffrey B. Hanson, the Council of State Court Judges bestowed the Bob Bray Award on AOC Director Cynthia Clanton for her “humility and deep dedication to public service.” In conjunction with the fall conference of the Council of Juvenile Court Judges, thirteen Juvenile Court judges attended New Judge Orientation, led by Judge Carolyn J. Altman, Judge Christopher W. Willis, Judge Nhan-Ai Du, and Judge Jeremy Clough. The Council of Municipal Court Judges (CMuCJ) presented annual awards to judges during their Fall Business meeting.

Judge Christopher W. Willis moderates a panel discussion with Judge Carolyn J. Altman, Judge Nhan-Ai Du, and Judge Jeremy Clough at New Judge Orientation for Juvenile Court Judges.
Judge Carolyn Altman with reference books donated by Georgia’s Court Improvement Program, that she curated for distribution to new Juvenile Court Judges.
Chief Judge Gregory V. Sapp and Judge Vi Bennett.
Director Cynthia Clanton, Chief Judge Gregory V. Sapp, Judge Vi Bennett, and Justice Ben Land.
Chief Judge Margaret Washburn, Chief Judge Norman Cuadra, Judge Ryan Hope, and former Judge Leslie Spornberger Jones, presenting Judge Jones with the CMuCJ Washburn-Oliver Award.
Chief Judge Margaret Washburn and Chief Judge Norman Cuadra present Judge Clay Davis with the CMuCJ Special Recognition Award.
Sr. Judge Ben Studdard was presented the Glen Ashman Education Award by Chief Judge Lisa Reeves, Chair, Municipal Court Training Council.

Georgia hosted the 2025 American Bar Association Forum on Building Access to Justice for All in Atlanta on October 15th-17th. Chief Justice Nels S.D. Peterson made the opening keynote, and Justices Verda M. Colvin and Carla Wong McMillian spoke on panels. 

October is National Substance Use & Misuse Prevention Month, and we took the opportunity to highlight the transformative work of Georgia’s Drug Courts—supported by the Council of Accountability Court Judges—by featuring success stories from Model Courts throughout the state. Thank you to the many judges who participated in that inspirational series: Judge Aaron B.  Mason and his team at the Clayton County Drug Court; Judge Mark A. Hendrix and his team at the Atlantic Judicial Circuit Drug Court; Senior Judge James F. Bass, Jr., and his team at the Savannah-Chatham County Drug Court; Judge Andy Crawford and his team at the Piedmont Judicial Circuit Drug Court; Chief Judge Brenda S. Weaver and her team at the Appalachian Judicial Circuit Drug Court; Chief Judge Brian A. McDaniel and his team at the Colquitt County Drug Court; Chief Judge W. Kendall Wynne, Jr., and his team at the Newton County Adult Felony Drug Court; Chief Judge D. Scott Smith and his team at the Cherokee Judicial Circuit Drug Court; and Chief Judge Jason J. Deal of the Northeastern Judicial Circuit Drug Court. October is also Hispanic Heritage Month, and we were pleased to feature several Georgia judges in honor of that occasion.  

Thank you to Georgia’s Model Drug Court teams, like the Atlantic Judicial Circuit Drug Court team pictured above, for your commitment to helping participants achieve lasting recovery.
Celebrating Georgia’s Judges of Hispanic Heritage.

A fire broke out at the Wayne County courthouse in Jesup on Friday, September 26, 2025. A couple of weeks later, we were grateful to receive this update from Wayne County State Court Judge Vi Bennett highlighting the resilient spirit of that community. Presiding Judge Christopher McFadden of the Georgia Court of Appeals was the featured speaker for the Gwinnett County Bar Association luncheon on October 17th. Congratulations to Fulton County State Court Judge Jane Morrison, who was honored by the Stonewall Bar Association at its 30th Anniversary Awards Dinner. Kudos to Municipal Court Judge Lori B. Duff who published another novel and was recently featured by her alma mater— Emory University School of Law. Congratulations to DeKalb County Chief Magistrate Court Judge Berryl A. Anderson who received the 2025 Franklin N. Flaschner Award from the American Bar Association Judicial Division’s National Conference of Specialized Court Judges for her integrity, personal achievement, and judicial excellence.  

Gwinnett County Bar Association October Luncheon – President Laura Walsh, Presiding Judge Christopher McFadden, District Attorney Patsy Austin Gatson, Chief Judge Margaret Washburn
Chief Judge Berryl Anderson with the Franklin N. Flaschner Award.
Wayne County’s courthouse sustained significant fire damage.

Judges and lawyers of various faiths gathered at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Atlanta on October 9th to pray for the legal community at the annual Red Mass—a Catholic tradition dating back to the thirteenth century.  Later that day, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Rachelle Carnesale was honored by the St. Thomas More Society with its annual award for her commitment to justice and humanity as evidenced by her work presiding over My Journey Matters—a program founded by Justice Shawn Ellen LaGrua and continued by Judge Carnesale, that offers an alternative to incarceration for young offenders.   

Staff for the Board of Court Reporting hosted the 2025 Learning Essentials About Professionalism (LEAP) seminar on October 3rd, which brought together 84 newly licensed court reporters eager to learn from experienced professionals in the field. The AOC hosted a mid-month Data Literacy Training led by the National Center for State Courts where attendees developed skills in court statistics, data visualization, and more. The AOC’s Office of Court Professionals recently visited Kennesaw State University and the University of Georgia as part of an outreach initiative aimed at informing students about career opportunities in court interpretation. We enjoyed spending time with hundreds of Georgia’s social studies teachers in Athens mid-month to promote the Judicial Council’s community engagement efforts. AOC senior staff members Ben Luke, Tracy Mason, and Stephanie Hines attended the inaugural Carl Vinson Institute of Government Certified Public Manager Alumni Seminar on October 21st.

The Office of Court Professionals recently presented to students at the University of Georgia and Kennesaw State University, offering information about opportunities in Georgia’s court system.
AOC staff provided an informational table at a statewide social studies teachers conference.
Participants attend the Data Literacy Training hosted by the AOC and led by the National Center for State Courts.
CVIOG Inaugural Certified Public Manager (CPM) Alumni Seminar – Dr. Marci Porter Campbell (CVIOG Faculty & CPM Program, Director), Ben Luke, Tracy Mason, Stephanie Hines

As a reminder, the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism closes nominations for the 26th Annual Justice Robert Benham Awards for Community Service on Tuesday, November 11, 2025. Judges Wade Padgett and Tain Kell (Ret.) have released four new episodes of the Good Judge-ment Podcast: Ep. 170: Confrontation Clause & Crime Lab Scientists with Senior Judge Ben Studdard; Ep. 171: The Georgia State-wide Business Court with Judge Bill Hamrick, III; Ep. 172: Georgia CMS with Ben Luke & Bharath Parthasarathy; and Ep. 173: HB 36 & Guardianship Law in GA with Judges Kelli Wolk and Kristin Poland.

The Georgia Courts Case Management System continues to make significant progress, including kick-off meetings and onboarding activities to support the first wave of courts that will adopt the new system in the coming year. Please check out that project’s website; it’s never too late to get involved.

Call on us anytime.  Talk to you in November 

Your JC/AOC Courts Journal team:  Noelle Lagueux-Alvarez, Bruce Shaw, JoAnna Deering, and our contractor, John Ramspott