After qualifying to run for Fulton County Superior Court Judge, Atlanta City Attorney Nina Hickson said she has changed her mind and will make sure her name is not on the general election ballot May 19.
In a Monday email to the Atlanta City Council, Hickson said she learned Thursday evening that incumbent Judge Constance C. Russell would not seek reelection. Hickson had until noon on Friday — the state’s filing deadline — to decide if she wanted to run.
“So I acted in order to preserve the option to participate in this election,” Hickson said.
Hickson said neither the charter nor the city code required her to resign.
“I will utilize my accrued leave, as well as time outside of working hours to campaign and will not engage in any campaign activity on city time,” Hickson wrote to the council.
But by Monday afternoon, Hickson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that she had decided against running.
As a superior court judge, Hickson would have earned about $90,000 less per year than her current $273,874 annual salary from the city.
Hickson has overseen the city's response to a years-long federal investigation of corruption at City Hall since her appointment in 2018, which has required producing millions of pages of documents to federal agents and making city employees available for interviews with the U.S. Attorney's Office.
She also successfully mediated a dispute between the city and the AJC and Channel 2 Action News about violations of the Georgia Open Records Act.
In Georgia, superior court judges preside over felony jury trials, including death penalty cases. They are also responsible for other types of cases such as misdemeanors, contract disputes, and divorce.
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