Deal fills Cobb, Gwinnett judicial vacancies
Gov. Nathan Deal on Wednesday filled two Superior Court judicial vacancies in Cobb and Gwinnett counties with lower-court judges from those counties.
The governor named Robert D. Leonard II to the Cobb bench. Leonard has served as a State Court judge in Cobb since December 2010. He succeeds George Kreeger, who resigned from the Superior Court bench in September.
George F. Hutchinson III, who has served as a Magistrate Court judge since 2004, including the past five years as chief judge, was elevated by the governor to Superior Court. Hutchinson, a former prosecutor, succeeds Judge William M. Ray II, whom Deal appointed in July to the Georgia Court of Appeals.
About the Author
Bill Rankin has been an AJC reporter for more than 30 years. His father, Jim Rankin, worked as an editor for the newspaper for 26 years, retiring in 1986. Bill has primarily covered the state’s court system, doing all he can do to keep the scales of justice on an even keel. Since 2015, he has been the host of the newspaper’s Breakdown podcast.
