On December 1, 2020, the Columbia County Board of Commissioners unanimously passed Resolution Number 20-48 requesting the Georgia State Legislature take such action as necessary to approve Columbia County as a single-county judicial circuit. The main reason of this request was to gain control of fiscal accountability which in turn would result in savings to the taxpayers of Columbia County.

After passing the House and Senate, Governor Brian Kemp signed Senate Bill 9 allowing Columbia County to form its own judicial circuit known as Columbia Judicial Circuit, effective July 1, 2021.

After months of planning and preparation, Columbia County is excited to announce the official start of the Columbia Judicial Circuit which consists of three Superior Court Judges which include the Honorable Judge James G. Blanchard, Judge Sheryl B. Jolly, and Judge J. Wade Padgett; the newly appointed District Attorney, Bobby Christine; Public Defender, Mack Taylor; and the Community Services Division.

Columbia County adopted the 2021-2022 budget on June 15, 2021 which showed a savings of approximately $565,000 by operating its own judicial circuit. When broken down, the savings for the District Attorney is approximately $346,000; Superior Court is $66,000, Public Defender is $129,000, and Juvenile Court is $23,000.

The offices of the District Attorney, Public Defender, Community Services Division, and Juvenile Court are located in the new Justice Center Annex (JCA), 7045 Evans Town Center Boulevard, Evans, GA. The JCA will also house the courtroom for Juvenile Court in the near future. The Superior Court will continue to operate out of the Justice Center.

All media inquiries should be directed to Cassidy Harris, Public Relations Manager for Columbia County.