The state’s top ethics official and a prosecutor in the office of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis are among three judges appointed to the county’s highest court by Gov. Brian Kemp on Wednesday.
David Emadi, director of the State Ethics Commission, takes the Fulton County Superior Court seat vacated by Jane Barwick when she retired earlier this year.
Nikia Smith Sellers, a Fulton prosecutor who ousted incumbent Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker in a nonpartisan election last month, has been appointed to fill the vacancy created when Kemp subsequently appointed Whitaker to the Georgia Court of Appeals.
Sellers’ election win had been placed in jeopardy by Whitaker’s recent promotion and the creation of a Superior Court vacancy that Kemp had the authority to fill with the candidate of his choice.
Kemp’s office said Wednesday that Sellers’ appointment recognizes the election result.
The governor also appointed Fulton County Magistrate Court Judge Debbie-Ann Rickman to the Superior Court bench. She fills the vacancy created by the resignation in February of Shermela Williams, who was fighting the state’s attempt to remove her from office for multiple ethics violations.
Williams, still working to clear her name in the misconduct case, has since been hired by Willis as a Fulton prosecutor.
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Emadi has led the Ethics Commission since 2019 and has previous experience as a prosecutor in Douglas County. His past work also includes scouting for the Cincinnati Reds baseball team, Kemp’s office said.
Emadi told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution he’s felt a pull toward public service since deciding in the second grade he wanted to be a lawyer.
“It just feels like an opportunity to serve and to give back and to get back to my roots in a courtroom everyday,” he said of the judgeship.
Sellers has spent more than a decade as a Fulton prosecutor. She previously said she challenged Whitaker because she didn’t want to campaign against some of the other Fulton judges she’s had more cases in front of. Sellers did not respond Wednesday to an inquiry about her appointment.
Rickman began her legal career as a public defender in Fulton, then became a prosecutor in DeKalb County. She was appointed to the Magistrate Court in 2019. She said she is incredibly grateful to Kemp for the opportunity to serve on the Superior Court.
“It is an honor to continue serving the citizens of Fulton County, and I remain committed to treating everyone who comes before the court with fairness, dignity and respect,” Rickman told the AJC.
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