Our Judges
Benjamin Harvey Hill
1907-1913 & 1920 – 1922, Chief Judge 1907-1913 No name stands higher ill the annals of Georgia than that of Benjamin Harvey Hill. Few men in the nation have ranked…
Richard Brevard Russell
1907 – 1916, Chief Judge 1913-1916 RICHARD B. RUSSELL served on the Georgia Court of Appeals 1907-1916 and on the Georgia Supreme Court 1922-1938…
Peyton L. Wade
1914 – 1919, Chief Judge 1916-1919 PEYTON L. WADE served on the Georgia Court of Appeals February 4, 1914, until August 29, 1919, and served as Chief Judge 1916-1919…
Nash Rose Broyles
1914-1947, Chief Judge 1919-1947 NASH R. BROYLES served on the Georgia Court of Appeals 1914-1947. He was born in Atlanta, October 16, 1868, and died April 7, 1947…
I. Homer Sutton
1932 – 1954, Chief Judge 1947 – 1954 I. HOMER SUTTON was a Court of Appeals Judge from 1932-1944, then served as Presiding Judge until 1947, and Chief Judge until…
Jule Wimberly Felton
1937 – 1969, Chief Judge 1954 – 1969 Jule Wimberly Felton was born on August 22, 1898, in Montezuma, Macon County, Georgia, of a distinguished family…
John Sammons Bell
1960 – 1979, Chief Judge 1969 – 1979 OHN SAMMONS BELL served on the Georgia Court of Appeals 1960-1979. He was born January 26, 1914, in Macon, Bibb County, Georgia…
Braswell D. Deen, Jr.
1965 – 1990, Chief Judge 1979 – 1980 BRASWELL D. DEEN, JR. was appointed to the Court of Appeals of Georgia in 1965 by Governor Carl E. Sanders, and served as…
J. Kelley Quillian
1966 – 1984, Chief Judge 1981 – 1982 JOHN KELLEY QUILLIAN served on the Court of Appeals from 1966-1984. He was born on February 7, 1930, in Winder, Barrow County…
Arnold Shulman
1977 -1984, Chief Judge 1983 ARNOLD SHULMAN served on the Court of Appeals of Georgia from 1977 to 1984, as Chief Judge in 1983. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania…
William Leroy McMurray, Jr.
1976 – 2000, Chief Judge 1984 Judge William LeRoy McMurray, Jr. was born on April 11, 1925, to William LeRoy McMurray, Sr. and Ethel M. McMurray in Rock Hill…
Harold R. Banke
1977 – 1991, Chief Judge 1985 – 1986 HAROLD R. BANKE was born in Pilot Point, Texas, August 8,1916. He graduated Pilot Point High School (1935)…
A.W. Birdsong, Jr.
1977 – 1998,Chief Judge 1987 – 1988 Judge A. W. “Buck” Birdsong, Jr. was born on January 30, 1925 in LaGrange, Troup County, Georgia to A. W. Birdsong, Sr…
George H. Carley
1979 – 1993, Chief Judge 1989 – 1990 Justice George H. Carley of Decatur was born in Jackson, Mississippi on September 24, 1938 to George L. Carley, Jr. and Dorothy…
John W. Sognier
1980 – 1992, Chief Judge 1991-1992 JOHN WOODWARD SOGNIER is a native of Savannah, Ga. He was born December 17, 1919, to Joseph W. Sognier and Viola Trott Sognier, both…
Marion T. Pope, Jr.
1981 – 2002, Chief Judge 1993 – 1994 Judge Marion T. Pope, Jr. was born September 28,1927 in Thomaston, Upson County, Georgia, to Marion T. Pope, Sr. and Hulette Irene…
Dorothy Toth Beasley
1984 – 1999, Chief Judge 1995-1996 Judge Dorothy Toth Beasley is the daughter of Judge Stephen Toth, retired, Bergen County Court, New Jersey, and Beatrice Elizabeth Dodd Toth. Sister Stephanie…
Gary Blaylock Andrews
1991 – 2018, Chief Judge 1997-1998 Presiding Judge Gary Blaylock Andrews was elected to the Georgia Court of Appeals in November, 1990, and took office on January 1, 1991…
Edward H. Johnson
1992 – 2010, Chief Judge 1999-2000 Judge Edward H. Johnson is a native Georgian born in Newnan, Coweta County. He served as Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals from January…
G. Alan Blackburn
1993 – 2010, Chief Judge 2001-2002 Judge G. Alan Blackburn was born May 6, 1939 in East Bend, N.C. He attended the public schools of Atlanta, Georgia, Yadkin County, North Carolina…
J. D. Smith
1993 – 2011, Chief Judge 2003-2004 Presiding Judge J.D. Smith was appointed by Governor Zell Miller to the Georgia Court of Appeals, effective May 10, 1993…
John H. Ruffin, Jr.
1994 – 2008, Chief Judge 2005-2006 Presiding Judge John H. Ruffin, Jr. became the 62nd Judge of the Court of Appeals of Georgia when he was administered the oath of…
Anne Elizabeth Barnes
Presiding Judge Anne Elizabeth Barnes won election in 1998 to the Georgia Court of Appeals in a three-way race without a runoff, and took office January 1, 1999. She was the first woman to be elected in a state-wide judicial race without having been first appointed to the bench
M. Yvette Miller
Presiding Judge M. Yvette Miller was appointed to the Georgia Court of Appeals on July 12, 1999, and became the 65th Judge on the court. She is the first African-American woman to serve on the Court as well as the first African-American woman to serve as the Court’s Chief Judge.
John J. Ellington
1999 – 2018, Chief Judge 2011 & 2012 – 2013 Presiding Judge John J. Ellington from Soperton, Treutlen County, Georgia, was sworn in as the 66th Judge of the Georgia Court
Charles B. Mikell
2000 – 2012, Chief Judge 2011 – 2012 Presiding Judge Charles B. Mikell was born in Savannah on December 25, 1941 and received his undergraduate degree in History from Princeton University
John J. Ellington
1999 – 2018, Chief Judge 2011 & 2012 – 2013 Presiding Judge John J. Ellington from Soperton, Treutlen County, Georgia, was sworn in as the 66th Judge of the Georgia Court
Herbert E. Phipps
Judge Herbert E. Phipps was born to J.W. Phipps and Marion Gadson Phipps in Baker County, Georgia. He and his wife, Connie Curry Phipps, have a son, Herbert E. Phipps, Jr., a daughter, India K. Epps, a son-in-law, Will J. Epps, a granddaughter, Zoë Olivia Epps
Sara L. Doyle
Presiding Judge Sara L. Doyle was elected to the Georgia Court of Appeals in December, 2008 and took office on January 1, 2009. In 2014 and 2020, she was elected to her second and third six- year term. From July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2017, Judge Doyle was the Court’s Chief Judge
Stephen Dillard
Presiding Judge Stephen Louis A. Dillard was appointed as the 73rd judge of the Court of Appeals of Georgia on November 1, 2010 by Governor Sonny Perdue. Prior to his appointment, Judge Dillard was in private practice with James, Bates, Pope & Spivey in Macon serving as chairman of the firm’s appellate practice group.
Christopher McFadden
Presiding Judge Christopher J. McFadden was elected in November 2010 for a term beginning January 1, 2011 and reelected in 2016. He is a son of the late Isabel McFadden and the late Judge Donald B. McFadden, who served for twenty years as a trial court judge in Akron, Ohio.
Brian M. Rickman
Chief Judge Brian M. Rickman was appointed to the Georgia Court of Appeals in November 2015 by Governor Nathan Deal and took office on January 1, 2016. Born in Madison County, Georgia, Judge Rickman was a jailer working in the Rabun County Detention Center before entering Piedmont College where he graduated cum laude with a Bachelor’s degree in 1998.
Amanda H. Mercier
Judge Amanda H. Mercier was appointed to the Georgia Court of Appeals by Governor Nathan Deal and took office on January 4, 2016. In 2018 she was elected to serve a full six year term after an uncontested election, and re-elected in 2024. Prior to her appointment to the Court of Appeals, Judge Mercier was appointed to the Superior Court in the Appalachian Judicial Circuit on July 15, 2010 by Governor Sonny Perdue.
Trenton Brown
Judge Trenton Brown was appointed and sworn in by Governor Nathan Deal as the 85th judge of the Court of Appeals of Georgia on May 16, 2018. He won election state-wide in 2020.
Chief Judges By Number
It is a tradition for our chief judges to be identified numerically. Because the office of chief judge is a specific title and position voted on by the judges of the Court, a person who serves non-consecutive terms as chief judge is assigned a different number for each term served. To date, only Judge John Ellington (now Justice Ellington) has served non-consecutive terms as Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals of Georgia.