Mary Staley Clark, who has served as a judge in Cobb County for 40 years, announced Friday that she is retiring on May 1.
In a release issued by Cobb government, Staley Clark said she is stepping down for family reasons, including getting married this spring.
Gov. Brian Kemp will appoint a successor to fill out the rest of her term, which ends in 2024.
Staley Clark is the third Cobb Superior Court judge to announce retirement this year.
Judge Tain Kell also is stepping down at the end of April to return to private law practice, and Kemp has not announced a successor.
Judge Robert Flournoy is not seeking re-election this year.
Staley Clark has been a Cobb Superior Court judge since 1992 and served as Chief Judge from 2005 to 2007. She also was a judge in Cobb Magistrate Court and Cobb State Court.
Staley Clark helped create the Cobb Mental Health Court and currently presides over the Cobb Drug Treatment Court.
She also is presiding over the current legal dispute between Mt. Bethel Church in East Cobb and the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church.
At a hearing this week, she agreed to mediate settlement talks between both sides.
“It will take time to adjust to not being on the bench every day. Of course, I’ll continue to help as a senior judge, but I am looking forward to getting married this spring and being able to spend more time with my parents and family,” Staley Clark said in the Cobb government release.
Staley Clark earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of West Georgia and a law degree from the University of Georgia.
Before her time as a judge, she was an assistant district attorney in Cobb County. In her statement, she thanked former Cobb District Attorney Tom Charron for hiring the first female prosecutors in the county.
She was recognized by the Cobb County YWCA as its 1994 Woman of Achievement and was the 2014 recipient of the Cobb Schools Foundation Leaders & Legends Award. Staley Clark was awarded the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Woman Award in 2015.
Related:
- East Cobb man sentenced to two life terms for child molestations
- Mt. Bethel Church, UMC ask judge to settle lawsuits
- Cobb DA releases statement on Arbery murder convictions
- Former East Cobb attorney sentenced in litigation fraud scheme
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Cobb County has been fortunate to have some excellent Superior Court judges over the years (along with a few who were/are, well, less so), but Mary Staley Clark and Tain Kell were the best of the best. Cobb will miss their presence.