The Georgia Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court in Georgia. It was established in 1906 and has fifteen judges who serve in five divisions. The Court of Appeals has statewide appellate jurisdiction of all cases except those involving constitutional questions, murder, and habeas corpus cases where original appellate jurisdiction lies with the Supreme Court. The Court of Appeals may certify legal questions to the Supreme Court.
Seated left to right: Presiding Judge Christopher J. McFadden, Presiding Judge Sara L. Doyle, Presiding Judge Anne Elizabeth Barnes, Chief Judge Amanda H. Mercier;Presiding Judge M. Yvette Miller, Presiding Judge Stephen Louis A. Dillard, Judge Brian M. Rickman. Standing left to right: Judge Jeffrey A. Watkins; Judge Trea Pipkin; Judge Todd Markle; Vice Chief Judge Trenton Brown; Judge Elizabeth D. Gobeil; Judge Kenneth B. Hodges III; Judge Benjamin A. Land; and Senior Judge C. Andrew Fuller.
It is a tradition for our judges to be identified numerically by the order that they were sworn into office. For example, Judge Sara Doyle is the 71st person to serve as a judge on the Court of Appeals of Georgia. Judge Benjamin Harvey Hill, who was the first judge to ever serve on the Court of Appeals, is the only judge to ever leave the Court and return to active service. He is only counted once for purposes of assigning numbers to our judges.
