Fayette County Superior Court Judge Christopher C. Edwards has announced he will seek a fourth term on the bench.
Edwards, a Brooks resident, was elected to the bench in 1998 and re-elected for subsequent terms in 2002 and 2006. He hears cases in the Griffin Judicial Circuit which includes Fayette, Spalding, Pike and Upson counties.
Edwards has run unopposed the past two elections. Qualifying for the non-partisan race begins Monday, June 28 at 9 a.m. and runs through noon Friday, July 2.
Edwards began his career as a prosecutor in the district attorney’s office in the Griffin circuit before moving to the same position in the Brunswick Judicial Circuit between 1981 and 1986. He then moved back to Griffin where he maintained a private civil jury trial practice from 1986-1999.
In addition to hearing civil and criminal felony cases, Edwards also has taken upon himself a position of advocacy for students in the circuit. For a number of years, Judge Edwards has visited local elementary schools with a simple message: if you learn to read and work hard, you can earn far more in your career as an adult than if you do neither.
Edwards has spoken to more than 50,000 students at 57 different elementary and high schools throughout the circuit.
And two years ago, Edwards also initiated a special Saturday class for budding law students in which he revisits some of the landmark decisions handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court throughout history.
Edwards also cosponsors a continuing education legal seminar for Fayette lawyers each fall at Amicalola Falls State Park and he serves as liaison to the judiciary for the Fayette County Bar Association.
As recognition of his efforts in the community, Edwards was awarded the Justice Robert Benham Community Service Award by the State Bar of Georgia. He also has received the Fayette Bar Association’s Service Award.
Edwards is married to the former Jennifer Cook of Griffin, who is full-time dual enrollment high school coordinator at Southern Crescent Technical College, formerly known as Griffin Technical College and Flint River Technical College. An artist, Mrs. Edwards’ oil painting of the late Chief Superior Court Judge Ben J. Miller hangs in the Upson County Courthouse.
The Edwards have two daughters: Meredith, 17, a Whitewater High School graduate attending Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville this fall and Grace, 13, a rising eighth-grader at Whitewater Middle School.
