Show Notes
Kenneth (Ken) Bryant Hodges, III was elected to the Court of Appeals by the citizens of Georgia in 2018, winning every county in the state with wide bipartisan support in a contested election for a rare open seat on the Court. Judge Hodges took office on Jan. 1, 2019, and was elected again state-wide in 2024. With deep experience in diverse practice areas, Judge Hodges has served as a prosecutor, defended criminal cases, and been on both sides of a dispute in civil matters. He has been a court appointed receiver and a mediator. Judge Hodges is applying this experience on the bench to uphold the rule of law and ensure justice for all. Judge Hodges was born and raised in Albany, GA. He graduated from Episcopal High School in Alexandria, VA, and earned his B.A. from Emory University in Political Science and Sociology with a minor in English in 1988. While at the University of Georgia Law School, he participated in a clinical program with a public defender and was sworn in under the Third Year Student Practice Act to try cases. He earned his J.D. from UGA Law in 1991 and set out to become a litigator. After working with a litigation firm in Atlanta, he returned to Albany as an Assistant District Attorney. Judge Hodges was elected District Attorney of the Dougherty Judicial Circuit in 1996 at the age of 30. Within the first two years, he cleared out a backlog of eight death penalty cases and took them to trial. He formed trial teams which effectively ended unnecessary delays in moving cases forward, and focused on laws and programs to better protect children in the county. This included a child prosecution unit, a child advocacy center, a truancy program to target unauthorized school absences, and he also established a sexual assault unit. In his second term, he was named District Attorney of the Year for the State of Georgia. During his 12 years as District Attorney, Ken was committed to managing an efficient office, which operated under budget every year. He was elected President of the DA’s Association and also served as Chairman of the Prosecuting Attorney’s Council; he was appointed by Governor Roy Barnes as Chairman of the Legal Loan Forgiveness Task Force and as a member of the Certainty in Sentencing Commission. In 2008, he returned to private practice, working in transactional law and then litigation. In 2015, Ken started his own law firm, Ken Hodges Law, based in Albany and Atlanta with a focus on commercial litigation. Judge Hodges was elected President of the State Bar of Georgia (2018-2019), the first judge to lead the organization in its history. He currently serves on the State Bar’s Office of General Counsel Oversight Committee, is Chairman of the Advisory Board for Truist-Albany, and is Vice-Chairman of the Albany-Dougherty Airport Commission. Ken also serves on the Board of Advisors of University of Georgia’s State Botanical Garden and the Board of Directors of the Southwest Georgia Legal Self-Help Center, a non-profit that works to improve access to justice for low-income people in the region. Judge Hodges has been widely recognized for his legal and civic accomplishments during his more than 27 years as a practicing attorney, including as the recipient of the State Bar’s Commitment to Equality Award, the Justice Benham Award for CommunityService, and The Eagle Award from the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council for his work on behalf of crime victims.
Links: https://www.gaappeals.gov/ http://www.akintate.com/ https://www.gatriallawyers.net/ See You In Court (seeyouincourtpodcast.org) To learn more about the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation, visit fairplay.org
More from See You In Court
Ken Hodges was only 30 years old when voters elected him District Attorney of the Dougherty Judicial Circuit in 1996. He entered office facing a backlog of eight death penalty cases. Within his first two years, those cases were moved forward and taken to trial. Hodges also reorganized the office around trial teams to reduce unnecessary delays and developed programs aimed at protecting children and crime victims. Those efforts included a child prosecution unit, child advocacy center, truancy program and sexual assault unit. This clip from Episode 54 of See You In Court provides another piece of the larger story behind Judge Hodges’ career, from prosecutor and district attorney to private practice, State Bar leadership and eventually the Georgia Court of Appeals. Listen to the full episode:https://seeyouincourt.podbean.com/e/episode-54-hon-kenneth-hodges-georgia-court-of-appeals/ Watch:https://youtu.be/Pp0kjKRrB7g
What happens when defective products cause serious injuries or investigations fail to uncover the truth? In Episode 56 of See You In Court, attorneys Tedra Cannella and Rob Snyder join hosts Robin Frazer Clark and Lester Tate to discuss complex product liability cases, consumer safety, and corporate accountability. From a $127 million defective seat belt verdict to a fatal trucking accident investigation, they share compelling stories about evidence, courtroom challenges, and the pursuit of justice through Georgia’s civil courts.
Georgia Court of Appeals Judge Ken Hodges spends most of his judicial work reviewing what happened in trial courts. But for a brief period, he got to go back. In this See You In Court clip, Judge Hodges explains how he volunteered to help a Fulton County Superior Court judge dealing with a significant backlog. His first stint resulted largely in pleas, even in murder cases that initially appeared likely to go to trial. When he returned a second time, an aggravated assault case did go before a jury, allowing Hodges to preside as a trial judge. The experience highlights one of the interesting contrasts in his career. Appellate judging requires extensive reading, record review and analysis. Trial court requires decisions in real time and constant interaction with lawyers, witnesses and the proceedings unfolding in front of you. Judge Hodges makes no secret of which experience felt more lively. Listen to the full Episode 54 conversation:https://seeyouincourt.podbean.com/e/episode-54-hon-kenneth-hodges-georgia-court-of-appeals/ Watch:https://youtu.be/Pp0kjKRrB7g
Georgia Court of Appeals Judge Ken Hodges says one of the toughest parts of his job is the sheer volume of cases the court must decide. That makes a potential change in Georgia’s appellate system especially significant. In this clip, Judge Hodges discusses the possibility that many murder appeals currently handled by the Georgia Supreme Court could eventually move to the Court of Appeals. His concern is what happens if a substantial new caseload arrives without additional judges, staff attorneys or other resources. In the full Episode 54 conversation, Hodges explains why that could affect not only the new cases, but also oral arguments, discretionary applications and the amount of time available to carefully consider every case already before the court. The jurisdiction change has not occurred, but the debate provides a revealing look at the workload and resource challenges behind Georgia’s appellate justice system. Listen to the full episode:https://seeyouincourt.podbean.com/e/episode-54-hon-kenneth-hodges-georgia-court-of-appeals/
When Ken Hodges became District Attorney of the Dougherty Judicial Circuit, he inherited a backlog of eight death penalty cases. Judge Hodges says the mishandling of one of those cases helped motivate him to run for district attorney, and working through that backlog became an important part of his early years in office. Yet when asked which prosecution stands out most, he points to State of Georgia v. Sidney Dorsey. The murder and racketeering prosecution of the former DeKalb County sheriff was moved from metro Atlanta to Albany, where Hodges worked alongside District Attorney J. Tom Morgan during jury selection, opening statements, witness examinations and trial strategy. This clip begins that remarkable chapter of Judge Hodges’ career. The story will continue when J. Tom Morgan joins See You In Court in an upcoming episode. Listen to the full Judge Hodges episode:https://seeyouincourt.podbean.com/e/episode-54-hon-kenneth-hodges-georgia-court-of-appeals/