Photo credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Back in May, Ronda Colvin-Leary made history as the first African American judge to be elected in Gwinnett County, Georgia. It has since been reported that she is also the first African American to be elected to the State Court bench in the Gwinnett Circuit. Colvin-Leary has now officially been sworn as a Gwinnett County State Court judge. She took the oath of office on Thursday afternoon, saying that “her election proves anything is possible,” reports CBS 46.
Raised in a small town in Alabama, Colvin Leary attended Auburn University and obtained her law degree from the Florida Coastal School of Law. After being admitted to the Georgia Bar in 2001, Colvin-Leary worked for the Atlanta Municipal Court and the DeKalb County Solicitor General’s Office. She has since been managing a private law practice for the last eleven years, and currently serves as a Solicitor for the city of Winder.
Photo credit: Isabel Hughes/Gwinnett Daily Post
“I love State Court because, for me, I like to think that … if you come to State Court we can try to address it before something else major happens and you wind up in Superior Court for a more serious offense,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports Colvin-Leary saying.
Photo credit: Isabel Hughes/Gwinnett Daily Post
Congratulations, Judge Colvin-Leary!