2025 – Present
Judge Jeff Davis was elected by the citizens of Georgia to the Court of Appeals in May 2024 after winning a contested statewide election for an open seat. Judge Davis officially assumed office on January 1, 2025, marking the beginning of his judicial service on the state’s intermediate appellate court.
Judge Davis graduated cum laude from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 1987. He is a 1991 graduate of the Georgia State University College of Law (GSU). While in law school, Judge Davis was a member of the GSU Law Review and served as a Student Writing Editor.
Following his graduation from law school, Judge Davis began his legal career as a criminal defense attorney, working with Attorney Bruce Harvey and assisting in many high-profile criminal cases. After trying several criminal cases as sole counsel, he left private practice to begin his service as Assistant General Counsel with the State Bar of Georgia, prosecuting lawyers who violated the ethics rules and monitoring and prosecuting individuals engaged in the unlicensed practice of law.
In the mid-90s, Judge Davis was named Real Estate Counsel for Caribou Coffee Company, the nation’s second-largest specialty coffee retailer. In this role, Judge Davis oversaw Caribou Coffee’s first expansion from its Minneapolis headquarters into the Atlanta market, assisting the company with real estate leasing and acquisition, construction, contracts, zoning and permitting, and other joint ventures to support the company’s growth.
In 2000, Judge Davis moved with his family to Madison, Georgia, and returned to private practice, where he “hung out his shingle” across from the Morgan County courthouse, becoming a small-town lawyer who represented clients across the legal spectrum. Judge Davis handled many cases, including family law, real estate closings, zoning cases, and general civil and criminal trial practice. Judge Davis tried numerous cases representing clients in the municipal, magistrate, probate, juvenile, state, and superior courts in counties all over our state.
In 2010, Judge Davis was selected as Director of the Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC), where he served until 2014. As JQC Director, Jeff oversaw an unprecedented number of investigations and prosecutions of judges accused of violating the Code of Judicial Conduct.
In 2014, Judge Davis returned to the State Bar of Georgia as Executive Director, continuing his public service and commitment to ethics and professional accountability for licensed attorneys.
While Judge Davis served as JQC Director, the agency received the Chief Justice Charles Weltner First Amendment Foundation Freedom of Information Award from the First Amendment Foundation. This award recognized the JQC’s efforts to protect and ensure public access to courtrooms and court records.
Judge Davis has also actively served within the faith community. Following his ordination as an elder in the Presbyterian church, Judge Davis enrolled in seminary and completed a Master of Theological Studies degree at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology. In 2007, he was ordained into the ministry and began serving as a part-time pastor while continuing his full-time law practice. He later founded the Gathering Madison Community Fund, which continues to provide financial support to the local food bank and the Morgan County Boys and Girls Clubs.
Judge Davis has served on many State Bar of Georgia Committees, including the Wellness Committee, Advisory Committee on Legislation, Investment, Personnel, Finance, Audit, and Statewide Judicial Selection Committees. Judge Davis was appointed by the Georgia Supreme Court to serve on the Committee, which revised the Code of Judicial Conduct and Rules of the JQC governing disciplinary proceedings for judges. While Director of the JQC, Judge Davis served as an advisor to the Judicial Nominating Commission. Judge Davis regularly teaches other lawyers and judges on topics concerning professionalism and ethics at the Institute of Continuing Legal Education and the Institute of Continuing Judicial Education. Judge Davis and his wife, Mary Beth, each have three sons. He lives in Walker County in the beautiful northwest Georgia mountains, where he enjoys hiking and trail running. Judge Davis is also certified as a Wilderness First Responder.