Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal selects new Muscogee County Superior Court judge

Columbus attorney Ben Land has been selected by Gov. Nathan Deal to serve as a Superior Court judge in the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit.

The decision was announced late Tuesday morning by the governor’s office. Land, now one of seven Superior Court judges in Muscogee County, replaced Judge Frank Jordan, who recently retired.

Land will have to seek election for the job in 2020.

“It is an honor and privilege to be given the opportunity to serve the citizens of our Circuit, and I look forward to getting to work on their behalf,” Land said Tuesday. “ I appreciate the trust the governor has placed in me, and I will do all I can to uphold that trust every day. The public deserves no less.”

Land, a 50-year-old successful private practice attorney who is the younger brother of U.S. District Court Judge Clay Land, was the most interesting name on the list of those who applied. It was the first time he has sought a judgeship.

Ben Land’s academic credentials are impressive. He graduated from the University of Georgia with a perfect 4.0 GPA and a business finance degree in 1989. He graduated second in his University of Georgia Law School class of more than 200 in 1992.

He has been an attorney in Columbus for 25 years, practicing the entire time with Buchanan & Land LLP. He practiced with his brother until 2001 when President George W. Bush appointed Clay Land to the federal bench.

Jerry Buchanan has practiced alongside Ben Land for more than 25 years and praises the governor for the selection.

“The governor had many good candidates to chose from and could not have made a bad decision on the final four,” said Buchanan, who is in his 42nd year of law practice in Columbus. “To me, Ben has absolute integrity, he is a brilliant legal scholar and has a desire to serve the public. A better choice could not have been made.”

Jordan, who was the longest serving judge in the six-county circuit that includes Muscogee County, left the bench on Dec. 31.

Jordan was an attorney practicing in Talbot and surrounding counties for more than 28 years before being appointed to the Superior Court bench in July 2000 by then-governor Roy Barnes. He served 17 years in the position.

The process to replace Jordan began in November. There were 10 mostly attorneys were nominated. Only nine of them applied by the mid-December deadline. Those nine were interviewed in Atlanta before Christmas by the Judicial Nominating Commission.

Those who have applied were: Thomasville attorney Robert L Moore Jr., Assistant State Court Solicitor David Ranieri, State Court Judge Ben Richardson, Juvenile Court Judge Joey M. Loudermilk, Deputy Assistant District Attorney Alonza Whitaker, Municipal Court Judge Steven D. Smith, Muscogee County District Attorney Julia Slater, Columbus attorney Raymond E. Tillery Jr., and Land.

Land, Richardson, Loudermilk and Slater made the short list and interviewed with Deal on Thursday in his office at the Capitol.

Land’s brother has been on the federal bench since being appointed by President George W. Bush in September 2001. He is currently the chief judge for the Middle District of Georgia and is based out of Columbus.

The Land brothers practiced together for nearly 10 years before Clay was appointed to the federal job.

Their uncle, John Henry Land, was a longtime and powerful Superior Court judge in the Chattahoochee Circuit. He was elected to Superior Court in 1964 and retired in 1988.

The Chattahoochee Circuit is a six-county circuit that includes Muscogee, Chattahoochee, Harris, Marion, Talbot and Taylor counties. The other judges on the Chattahoochee Circuit bench are Chief Judge Gil McBride, Judge Bobby Peters, Judge William Rumer, Judge Art Smith, Judge Ron Mullins and Judge Maureen Gottfried.

This story was originally published January 30, 2018 at 12:09 PM with the headline "Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal selects new Muscogee County Superior Court judge."