April 23, 2014
Georgia’s two newest Superior Court Judges were sworn in at the State Capitol on April 16, 2014, by Governor Nathan Deal.
Judge Suzanne H. Smith of the Cherokee Judicial Circuit replaces Judge Shepherd Howell who recently retired. Judge Smith previously served as a judge of the Municipal Court of the City of Calhoun and Judge Pro Tempore of the Gordon County Juvenile Court. She also served as city attorney for the City of Calhoun. Prior to that, she was an associate at the firm of Chance, Maddox & Smith and served as an assistant district attorney for the Cherokee Judicial Circuit. Judge Smith received her law degree from the University of Georgia and graduated magna cum laude from Berry College in Rome, Georgia, with undergraduate degrees in English and Spanish. She is active in the Calhoun Historic Preservation Commission, Calhoun Downtown Development Authority, and Calhoun/Gordon Literacy Council. She is a member of the Calhoun First United Methodist Church and is married to Nathan Smith, a language arts instructor in Gordon County Schools, and has one daughter, Kate, a junior in Tusculum College.
Judge Verda Colvin of the Macon Judicial Circuit replaces Judge Phil Brown who recently retired. Judge Colvin grew up in southwest Atlanta. She attended Sweet Briar College in Virginia and graduated with a dual degree in Government and Religion. She pursued her legal education at University of Georgia School of Law and graduated in 1990. Judge Colvin began her legal career at a civil rights law firm in Charlotte, North Carolina, serving as associate for three years before returning home to Georgia. She worked in the Athens-Clarke County Solicitor’s Office, then returned to Atlanta and to work as Assistant General Counsel for Clarke-Atlanta University. She became a prosecutor in Clayton County District Attorney’s Office where she remained until joining the United States Attorney’s Office in 1999. While there she prosecuted all types of cases, including drug cartel, firearm cases, child pornography, white collar fraud, public corruption, gang related crimes, and violent crimes.
The Council of Superior Court Judges welcomes these two new judges to the Superior Court bench.