Charles L. Carnes recognized that his job as a judge was more about rendering assistance than ordering people around. During the nearly 20 years he sat on the Fulton County State Court — 17 as its chief judge — Carnes relished each opportunity to serve those who entered his courtroom or office.
“He was the epitome of a public servant,” Fulton Superior Court Judge Jerry W. Baxter said. “He was the most genuine and wonderful person. He helped me so much, I think I owe my career to him. And there are a lot of other people similarly situated.”
It would be hard to count the number of people Carnes helped, said Judge Frank Hull of the 11th U.S. Court of Appeals. Carnes had an open-door policy for everyone from fellow judges to courthouse staff. But the work he did with judges was legendary, she said.
“We called State Court the Charlie Carnes Training School for Judges,” Hull said with a laugh. “He could have been appointed to Superior Court or appellate court, but he chose to stay on the State Court and train other judges.”
Carnes, 86, who died Monday, was initially elected to the bench in 1980. In 1998, the year he retired, the Fulton County Commission named the building where he once worked the Charles L. Carnes Justice Center Building. Before running for judge, however, Carnes spent 12 years in the Georgia House of Representatives, where he helped create the State Court.
“He was involved in the business of the court before he actually got there,” Baxter said. “He was also one of the foundational pieces of the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation while he was in the Legislature.”
Marty Ellin, executive director of the foundation, said Carnes helped create it in the late-’70s because he understood that people needed, but could not afford, the service of a good lawyer in civil court.
Julie Carnes, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Atlanta, said it was likely her father’s service in the Navy that opened his eyes to the ways of the world. Charles Carnes grew up in rural North Georgia, on a farm in Eton. There, Carnes wasn’t exposed to many career options.
“All he knew that men did in North Georgia was plant and pick cotton,” she said. “And that is what he did as a child and a teenager. At that point, he might have thought a career in law was as likely as flying to the moon.”
But as a teen, the elder Carnes would take that lunar trip: He’d cut class, head to the courthouse, hide in the balcony and watch attorneys argue the law.
Carnes dropped out of high school to join the Navy, and after his service he returned home to finish his education. By the time he started college, thanks to the GI Bill, he’d married the former Mary Mayfield and they’d had their first child, Julie. Another daughter and a son would come later.
“He worked jobs during the day and went to school at night for nine years,” Carnes said of her father. “So it is not that he started out with the goal of being a lawyer, but as he got his education he started to see that (as an option).”
Charles Carnes’ work ethic was not only noticed by his daughter and peers, but by others with whom he came in contact over the years. He was never hesitant to do whatever needed to be done, said Sam Massell, president of the Buckhead Coalition and a former Atlanta mayor.
“No wonder he was called on down through the years to advise our state’s Governors on so many judicial appointments,” Massell wrote in an email. “His insight, intelligence and integrity made him a valuable friend to all who knew him.”
And somehow Carnes never let on how challenging the job was.
“I don’t know how he did it for 17 years, but he made it look easy,” current Fulton State Court Chief Judge John R. Mather said. “He handled the position greatly, and the court ran extremely smooth under his leadership.”
A funeral is planned for 1 p.m. Monday at H.M. Patterson, Spring Hill, which is also in charge of arrangements.
In addition to his wife of 66 years and his daughter, Carnes is survived by children Kathleen Lindsay of Atlanta and Doug Carnes of Alpharetta; and six grandchildren.
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