Who will take vacant Superior Court judge seat? List is narrowed down to 3 finalists
Georgia’s Judicial Nominating Commission has sent Gov. Brian Kemp a list of three finalists to replace retired Columbus Superior Court Judge William Rumer.
Rumer retired Aug. 31. He now serves part-time as a senior judge.
The three finalists are:
- Muscogee State Court Judge Ben S. Richardson.
- Wesley A. Lambertus, with the law firm Brown & Adams.
- John T. Martin Sr., of the Martin Law Firm.
The commission sent the nominations to Kemp in a letter Monday. Kemp will now schedule interviews with the finalists, the commission said.
Richardson grew up in Atlanta, and graduated from Howard University in Washington, D.C., before earning his law degree from the University of Georgia. He practiced law in Athens before joining the Muscogee County solicitor general’s staff in 1994. He was promoted to chief assistant solicitor general in 1996, and in 2003 became solicitor general, the chief prosecutor in state court, which primarily handles misdemeanor offenses. He became state court judge in 2014.
Wesley Lambertus joined Brown & Adams this year. He formerly served as a senior assistant district attorney in the six-county Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit that includes Columbus, handling some of the city’s most notable criminal cases, including the case of missing Columbus woman Ebony Giddens. Lambertus was among the prosecutors fired after Mark Jones was elected district attorney last year. He got his law degree from Mercer University in 2003, and a bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Mercer in 2000.
John Martin is the son of Frank K. Martin, a prominent Columbus attorney who served as Columbus mayor from 1991 to 1994. The father established the law firm in 1964, and the son joined it in 1995. His law degree is from the Mississippi College School of Law, and he earned a degree in mass communication from the University of Georgia in 1991.
This story was originally published September 23, 2021 at 3:28 PM.