The Valdosta State University Harley Langdale Jr. College of Business Administration will welcome Anne Elizabeth Barnes, presiding judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals, at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 4, in the Health Science and Business Administration Building Room 1002. Admission is free of charge and open to the public.
 
Barnes will give a presentation on the status of the court system in Georgia, including the Georgia Court of Appeals.
 
A native Georgian, Barnes grew up in Chamblee and attended DeKalb County public schools. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Georgia State University in 1979, a Juris Doctor from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1983, and a Master of Laws from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2004.
 
She has served on the Supreme Court of Georgia’s Commission on Interpreters and the Judicial Council of Georgia’s Standing Committee on Policy, as well as its Budget Committee, the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism, and the Domestic Violence Committee of the Judicial Council of Georgia. She has also been a member of the Council of Chief Judges of the State Courts of Appeal, as well as a chairwoman of the Judicial Section of the Atlanta Bar Association.
 
In 1998, Barnes was elected to the Georgia Court of Appeals in a three-way race without a runoff. She was the first woman to be elected in a state-wide judicial race without having been first appointed to the bench, and was re-elected, without opposition, to serve a second term in 2004. Six years later, she was elected to a third term, receiving more votes than any other candidate in the State of Georgia.
 
Barnes volunteers with the Truancy Intervention Project’s Early Intervention Program, where she works with elementary school children and is member of the Board of Directors. In 2013, she completed a fellowship program with the Advanced Science and Technology Adjudication Resource Center. In 2014, she joined the Board of Directors of the National Courts and Science Institute. She has also served on the Board of Directors of Georgia Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children since 2011.
 
Barnes is a member of the American Bar Association; the State Bar of Georgia; the Atlanta, DeKalb, and Gate City Bar Associations; the National Association of Women Judges; the Lawyers Club of Atlanta; and the Old Warhorse Lawyers Club. She is also a fellow of the Lawyers Foundation of Georgia, a master of the Bleckley Inn of Court, and a 2006 graduate of Leadership Atlanta.
 
Seating is limited to 200 participants.
 
Contact Demetress Rozier, administrative assistant in the Harley Langdale Jr. College of Business Administration, [email protected] to make a reservation or learn more.