A total of 44 people have been nominated for an appointment to fill the two judicial vacancies on the Griffin Judicial Circuit Supreior Court created by the resignations of of Judges Johnnie L. Caldwell Jr. and Paschal A. English Jr.
Among the names submitted to the Georgia Judicial Nomination Commission are several sitting judges including Fayette County State Court Judge Fletcher Sams, Juvenile Court Judge Ben J. Miller Jr., Fayette County Magistrate Charles R. Floyd Jr., Fayette County Magistrate Robert A. Ruppenthal, Tyrone Magistrate Sharon L. Pierce, Peachtree City Municipal Judge Stephen D. Ott.
Retired Probate Judge Martha King Stephenson was also nominated as was current Fayette County Commissioner Eric K. Maxwell, who himself is a former Peachtree City Municipal Court Judge. Maxwell has told The Citizen he would not seek a Superior Court judgeship.
Also on the list are current Griffin circuit District Attorney Scott Ballard, two of his assistant DAs, Warren A. Sellers and Randall K. Coggin along with former assistant district attorney Daniel A. Hiatt.
Rudjard M. Hayes, who lost a challenge to Ballard, is also on the list, along with Fayette attorney John Mrosek, who has lost two challenges to Judge Caldwell.
Another notable name on the list is that of Atlanta City Attorney Angela Hinton-Fonda, who also serves on the board of directors for Fayette County Department of Family and Children Services and was recently honored with a statewide for her volunteer commitments to the community.
The list of appointees will be slimmed down to but a few by the Georgia Judicial Nominating Commission, which will recommend a handful of finalists to Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, who is empowered to make the appointments.
Two senior judges have been assigned temporarily to the circuit to assist sitting Superior Court Judges Christopher C. Edwards and Tommy R. Hankinson with the caseload until Perdue’s selections can be sworn into office.
The complete list of nominees is as follows:
Bentley C. Adams, III
W. Allen Adams
Scott L. Ballard
Hilliard V. Castilla
Judy M. Chidester
Philip S. Coe
Randall K. Coggin
Paul M. Cognac
Robert M. Crawford
Eugene W. Dabbs IV
Robert H. English
Charles R. Floyd Jr.
Patrick J. Fox
Nicholas P. Garcia
Tammy M. Griner
Rudjard M. Hayes
Daniel A. Hiatt
Angela M. Hinton
Mark M. Irvin
Thomas J. Ison Jr.
John P. Joiner
Stephen M. Kiser
Cindy S. Manning
Eric K. Maxwell
John C. McGinn
Carla W. McMillian
Benjamin J. Miller Jr.
John W. Miller
Thomas R. Morgan
John W. Mrosek
Joseph B. Myers Jr.
Stephen D. Ott
L.J. Overman II
Sharon L. Pierce
Robert A. Ruppenthal
W. Fletcher Sams
Catherine B. Sanderson
Warren A. Sellers
Timothy N. Shepherd
Robert W. Smith Jr.
Martha King Stephenson
Jason B. Thompson
James R. Westbury Jr.
Andrew J. Whalen III
