Gov. Kemp picks new district attorney, State Court judge for Columbus area

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has selected two more Columbus lawyers to fill vacant positions in the local judicial system.

Prominent local defense attorney Stacey Jackson will be the new district attorney. Former prosecutor Pete Temesgen, now working in civil law, will be the new Muscogee County State Court judge.

Jackson, a criminal defense attorney with the Columbus firm Hagler, Henderson, Jackson and Walters as well as a former assistant district attorney here, will succeed Mark Jones as the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit district attorney. Jones resigned in November after pleading guilty to misconduct in office.

Temesgen, now with the law firm Huff, Powell and Bailey will succeed State Court Judge Ben Richardson, who will replace Superior Court Judge Ben Land when Land fills the vacancy on the Georgia Court of Appeals left by Judge Andrew Pinson’s departure.

Kemp appointed Pinson to the Supreme Court of Georgia, filling the vacancy created by the retirement of Chief Justice David E. Nahmias, who will leave the bench at the end of the 2022 court term in July.

No dates to swear Jackson and Temesgen into office have been set, Kemp spokeswoman Katie Byrd told the Ledger-Enquirer on Tuesday.

Along with the appointments of Land and Richardson, Kemp also appointed in February Columbus attorney John Martin to fill the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit Superior Court vacancy left by Judge William Rumer’s retirement in August.

Stacey Jackson and Pete Temesgen reaction to appointments

Jackson will be the circuit’s first Black district attorney officially in the position. Sheneka Terry became the first Black woman to serve in that capacity when she was sworn in as acting DA in October.

Jackson told the L-E late Monday that he felt “thankful and grateful” that the governor trusted him to take command of the district attorney’s office, and he hopes to make “positive changes” when he takes office, likely in a few weeks.

Jackson said he will need time to close his private practice. In his criminal defense work, he has represented clients whose cases still are pending.

It would be a conflict of interest for him to handle those cases as district attorney, so they will have to be referred to the state attorney general’s office or the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia, to be assigned to other prosecutors.

Jackson, who grew up in Harris County where his parents were teachers, said he’s honored to serve as the chief prosecutor in the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit that besides Muscogee County includes Harris, Chattahoochee, Talbot, Taylor and Marion.

“It’s a great feeling, and a wonderful feeling, to be appointed district attorney in the circuit I grew up in,” he said.

Temesgen told the L-E Tuesday, “It’s a great honor and privilege to be appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp. I’m particularly humbled to follow in the footsteps of Judge Ben Richardson and Judge John Allen, two men I clerked for. … I hope to bring vigor, energy and enthusiasm to the position and be a real asset to the community and the bar and the bench.”

Asked why he sought the position, Temesgen said, “I’m committed to public service. I’ve always had a heart to have a community-facing role where I can do some good. This is an important position in the justice system, and I think I have the temperament and the intelligence to do it well.”

Other finalists

Kemp last month interviewed at least four district attorney finalists to replace Jones, all of them local. Temesgen was among them.

Besides Jackson and Temesgen, Kemp interviewed William Hocutt IV, a prosecutor who started in Troup County in 2006 and served as assistant district attorney here starting in 2010, and Terry, the chief assistant district attorney under Jones who has served as acting district attorney for the circuit since Kemp suspended Jones in October.

Kemp in January asked for nominations to fill the position until Jones’ unexpired term ends in December 2024.

Jones took office in January 2021 after defeating incumbent Julia Slater in the 2020 elections, but he served only 10 months before Kemp suspended him after an indictment on felony charges alleging misconduct.

A jury was deliberating evidence presented at his weeklong trial when Jones decided Nov. 15 to plead guilty and resign. Visiting Judge Katherine Lumsden sentenced him to one year in prison and four years on probation and fined him $1,000.

Jones is serving his sentence in a medium-security prison. He petitioned the Georgia Supreme Court on Jan. 27 to let him voluntarily surrender his license to practice law, which he admitted is “tantamount to disbarment.” Last week, the court accepted the voluntary surrender of his law license.

More bio info about Stacey Jackson and Pete Temesgen

Jackson earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Albany State College, now called Albany State University, in 1996 and a law degree from the University of Dayton in 1999. He is a member of the Columbus Bar Association, the Fountain City Bar Association, Inns of Court Columbus Chapter and Fountain City Classic Committee, Lambda Iota Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and Gamma Psi Boule’ of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity. He is a former board member for the Port of Columbus Naval Museum, Aaron Cohn Regional Youth Detention Center and Northern Little League. He was a member of the 2012 class of Leadership Georgia and the 2016 class of Republican Leadership of Georgia.

Temesgen earned his law degree from Boston University School of Law in 2013 and his undergraduate degree from Princeton University in 2009. His community involvement includes serving in leadership roles at the Springer Opera House and the Young Lawyer’s Division of the Columbus Bar Association. He also is the mayoral appointee on the Public Safety Advisory Commission. Previously, he was president of the Fountain City Bar Association and a member of the Leadership Georgia Class of 2019.

Staff writer Nick Wooten contributed to this story.