Swearing In of The Honorable Anne Elizabeth Barnes

as Chief Judge Makes Georgia History

The Honorable Anne Elizabeth Barnes will be sworn in as the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals of Georgia on Thursday, January 4, 2007. Her investiture will mark the first time in Georgia history that both of the state's appellate courts will be led by women. The twelve judges of the Court of Appeals elect a chief judge every two years, rotating the position in order of seniority. Judge Barnes was unanimously elected on November 21, 2006, to serve as the twenty-third Chief Judge since the Court's inception. She is only the second woman to hold the post. Judge M. Yvette Miller is next in line to succeed Judge Barnes as Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals and currently is Judge-in-
Charge of the Clerk's Office. Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears is the first woman to hold the post on Georgia's Supreme Court, and will be followed by Presiding Justice Carol Hunstein.

The investiture will be held at 2 p.m. in the Court of Appeals courtroom on the sixth floor of the State Judicial Building at 40 Mitchell Street, and is open to the public. Judge Barnes's niece, Amanda Lynn Barnes, will perform "God Bless America." Two former Chief Justices of the Georgia Supreme Court will participate in the program. Former Chief Justice Norman S. Fletcher will address the attendees, and Justice and former Chief Justice Robert Benham will administer the oath of the Chief Judge. During her two-year term as Chief Judge, Judge Barnes will be responsible for the administration of the Court and will act as the head of the Court for ceremonial and communication purposes.

Judge Barnes, a native of DeKalb County, made history in 1998 as the first woman to be elected in a state-wide judicial race without having been first appointed to the bench. She was re-elected, without opposition, to a second term in 2004.

The Court of Appeals was founded in 1906, and celebrated its Centennial Year in 2006. Outgoing Chief Judge John H. Ruffin, Jr., presided over the Court's festivities, which culminated in a dinner for 950 people at the Georgia Aquarium. January 2007 also marks a historic anniversary for the Court of Appeals of Georgia. One hundred years ago this week, the Court convened for the first time. The Court heard its first arguments and issued its first opinions in January 1907.

Before being sworn in as a judge of the Court of Appeals on January 1, 1999, Judge Barnes practiced law in Savannah and Atlanta. She serves on the Board of Aid to Children of Imprisoned Mothers, the Operating Board of the Commerce Club of Atlanta, and is a frequent lecturer and panelist on legal education programs. She is a member of the Leadership Atlanta class of 2006.

Judge Barnes graduated from Georgia State University magna cum laude in 1979. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of Georgia in 1983, and her Master of Laws in the Judicial Process from the University of Virginia in 2004. She is married to Decatur attorney W. Fred Orr II.

Additional information about the Court, including its history and judges, is available online at www.gaappeals.us. For further details, contact Holly Sparrow at (404) 651-
8498 or sparrowh@gaappeals.us.