Last November, Superior Court Judge Ann B. Harris was elected by her fellow judges to serve a two-year term as the next Chief Judge of the Cobb Judicial Circuit beginning January 13, 2025.
Judge Harris was elected to the Superior Court of the Cobb Judicial Circuit in July 2014 and was re-elected without opposition in 2018 and 2022. In addition to managing a full docket of criminal, domestic, and civil matters, Judge Harris presides over Cobb County’s Mental Health Accountability Court, a model court for the treatment and restoration of persons with mental illness who are involved in the criminal justice system. She also presides over Cobb’s Parental Accountability Court, an award- winning alternative to incarceration that transforms chronic non-payers of child support into financially supportive parents through job assistance and placement, education, and substance abuse treatment.
Over the past six years, Judge Harris has been participating in a cooperative effort with the Republic of Georgia to promote the independence of the Georgian justice system and strengthen the rule of law in that country by assisting their judiciary in court and jury trial management. She currently serves as President of Georgia’s Council of Superior Court Judges and is Chair of its Pattern Jury Instructions Committee. She is also a member of the Weltner Family Law Inn of Court.
Prior to her election to the bench, Judge Harris served the people of Cobb County as an assistant district attorney for 19 years. Among other notable cases, she tried the first case of felony elder abuse in the state of Georgia. In addition to prosecuting all types of serious felony offenses, she helped draft the first human trafficking laws in Georgia in 2006 and was a member of the regional Human Trafficking Task Force. Prior to her legal career, Judge Harris worked for several years as a senior consultant with an international information services consulting firm.
Judge Harris earned her law degree from Vanderbilt University and her bachelor’s degree from Auburn University. She is a recent past Chair of the Board of Directors of MUST Ministries, a non- profit organization dedicated to assisting homeless and struggling families and individuals with housing, food, clothing, employment, and other needs. Judge Harris is also a longtime member and past president of the Smyrna Optimist Club. She is a 2004 graduate of Leadership Cobb and has been an active member of Cobb’s Honorary Commanders Association since 2012. She and her husband Jim have been married for 39 years and live in Smyrna with their rescue dog Bert.
Related:
- Eight youths graduate from Cobb Diversionary Court program
- Newly elected Cobb District Attorney sworn into office
- Cobb Chief Magistrate appoints three to magistrate bench
- Man gets life sentence for 2015 murders of East Cobb c0uple
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