Three Middle Georgia attorneys to interview for state appellate judgeships

Three Middle Georgia attorneys are set to interview next week for three Georgia Court of Appeals judgeships.

The judgeships were created earlier this year when legislators passed a new law increasing the number of judges on the court from 12 to 15.

More than 100 lawyers were nominated for the positions, but 42 were selected for interviews with the Georgia Judicial Nominating Commission, according to lists provided by the commission.

Interviews are set to be held Monday and Tuesday.

Locals set to be interviewed include:

Charles R. Adams III, a lawyer at Fort Valley’s Adams & Adams firm

Houston Judicial Circuit District Attorney George Hartwig

Charles “Buck” Ruffin, shareholder at the Baker Donelson firm, which has a Macon office. Ruffin served as president of the Georgia Bar Association in 2014.

Middle Georgia already is represented on the court by Stephen Dillard, a Macon attorney appointed to the court by Gov. Sonny Perdue in 2010. Dillard was elected in 2012 to remain on the bench until his office is due for reelection in 2018.

After conducting next week’s interviews, the commission will recommend a short list of candidates to Gov. Nathan Deal for his consideration for the appointments.

Information from Telegraph archives was used in this report. To contact writer Amy Leigh Womack, call 744-4398 or find her on Twitter@awomackmacon.

This story was originally published September 29, 2015 at 2:47 PM with the headline "Three Middle Georgia attorneys to interview for state appellate judgeships ."