Georgia governor meets four local finalists for Columbus district attorney. Who are they?
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp this week interviewed at least four finalists vying to replace Mark Jones, the Columbus district attorney who resigned in November after pleading guilty to misconduct in office.
Two of the applicants told the Ledger-Enquirer on the record Thursday that they are among those the governor called back for followup interviews, and confirmed the names of the others, whom the newspaper already had contacted.
All are local attorneys hoping to serve as the chief prosecutor for the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit that besides Muscogee includes the counties of Harris, Chattahoochee, Talbot, Taylor and Marion.
Here in alphabetical order are the candidates Kemp is considering:
- William Hocutt IV, a prosecutor since 2006, starting in Troup County, and an assistant district attorney here since 2010.
- Stacey Jackson, a criminal defense attorney with the Columbus firm Hagler, Henderson, Jackson & Walters, and a former assistant district attorney here.
- Pete Temesgen, a former assistant district attorney here who’s currently with the law firm Huff, Powell & Bailey.
- Sheneka Terry, the chief assistant district attorney under Jones who has served as acting district attorney for the circuit since Kemp suspended Jones in October.
Hocutt and Jackson are the two who confirmed they were finalists and confirmed the names of the other two candidates. Terry previously told the Ledger-Enquirer she had applied for the job. Each met with the governor on Wednesday.
It’s unclear when Kemp will make the appointment, and whether he may consider candidates he did not call to followup interviews. A Kemp representative said she could not comment on a timeline Thursday.
Kemp in January asked for nominations to fill the position until Jones’ unexpired term ends in December 2024.
Jones, 40, took office in January 2021 after defeating incumbent Julia Slater in the 2020 elections, but served only 10 months before Kemp suspended him after his indictment on felony charges alleging misconduct.
A jury was deliberating the evidence presented at his week-long trial when Jones decided Nov. 15 to plead guilty and resign. Visiting Judge Katherine Lumsden sentenced him to five years in prison with one to serve, and fined him $1,000.
Jones is serving his sentence in a medium-security prison where 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.”
This story was originally published March 17, 2022 at 1:25 PM.