Greetings Courts Journal readers,
On Wednesday, February 7, 2024, Chief Justice Boggs presented his second State of the Judiciary to the Georgia General Assembly, which was well received and garnered positive media coverage. Two days later, the Judicial Council of Georgia, chaired by Chief Justice Boggs, held a General Session, which was live-streamed and archived. The CACJ 2023 Annual Report was mentioned as now posted. We’ve added two videos to our “Meet the Members of the Judicial Council” webpage, Judge Bill Hamrick of the State-wide Business Court and Bartow County Juvenile Court Judge Neal Brunt. The Judicial Council Standing Committee on Legislation has been holding weekly calls during the session to hear updates and share information; the Judicial Council Standing Committee on Access to Justice met on February 14th in partnership with the State Bar of Georgia’s Access to Justice Committee and new leadership from the Georgia Bar Foundation; and the Judicial Council Standing Committee on Technology’s Subcommittee on Automated Data Collection met this month to discuss National Open Court Data Standards and the Justice Counts initiative.
The Georgia judicial branch had a doubleheader on February 1st with the Council of Magistrate Court Judges at the Capitol in the morning followed, one hour later, by the Council of Probate Court Judges, resulting in good discussion and fellowship with our legislative partners. February is Black History Month and this year we were inspired to ask Georgia judges around the state to pose with portraits of their predecessors, if possible, which created some inspiring images. We also loved the Valentine’s Day pictures from Georgia judges all over the state holding special wedding events for their constituents.
Thank you Rockdale County Juvenile Court Judge Maureen Wood for speaking at our All Staff Meeting. We enjoyed interviewing Dylan Long for a Judicial Council/AOC staff profile. The leadership of the Council of Magistrate Court Clerks met this month to plan their annual conference and 22 new Magistrate Court Judges attended Criminal Certification training. Congratulations to Magistrate Court and Probate Court Judge Teresa Odum who received the Citizen of the Year award from the Long County Chamber of Commerce. The Georgia Bar, Media, and Judiciary conference was a wonderful success with 31 judges in attendance and Judge Walmsley and Judge Wong speaking on panels.
Congratulations to Judge Wade Padgett, Judge J. Grady Blanchard, Judge Markeith Wilson, and Judge Caren Cloud on your new appointments! Congratulations as well to Justice Robert Benham, who was awarded the Ivan Allen, Jr. Prize for Social Courage for, among other things, being the first African American justice on the Supreme Court of Georgia and the first African American to win a statewide election since Reconstruction. We loved seeing the “jury deliberation notes” of 5th graders from the civics exercise–“Courtroom to Classroom”–hosted by Judge Jason Murbutt, Judge Kellie Hill, Judge Henry Thompson, and Judge Jaret Usher. We continue to encourage you to help us advertise the Law Day Art Contest. We close by mourning the loss of Judge Hilton Fuller, who was an impactful leader in the Georgia judiciary.
Call on us anytime. Talk to you in March 2024
Your JC/AOC Courts Journal team: Michelle Barclay, Noelle Lagueux-Alvarez, Bruce Shaw, and our contractor, John Ramspott