Supreme Court Appoints Chief Judge Self to JQC

Atlanta, October 20, 2016 – The Supreme Court of Georgia has appointed Chief Judge Tilman E. “Tripp” Self, III of the Macon Judicial Circuit to the Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC). Self replaces Chief Judge Brenda Weaver of the Appalachian Circuit, who resigned from the Commission in August.

The Judicial Qualifications Commission is a seven-member constitutional body that educates Georgia judges about their ethical duties and conducts investigations and hearings regarding judges’ ethical misconduct. The state Supreme Court makes two appointments to the Commission. The Court appointed Judge Patsy Y. Porter of the Fulton County State Court to the Commission in August 2013. Judge Porter remains on the Commission and recently took over as its chairperson following Chief Judge Weaver’s resignation.

Chief Judge Self, 47, was elected to the Superior Court bench Dec. 5, 2006, and was reelected in 2010 and 2014 without opposition. He is the third generation of his family to be elected to a judicial office. A former U.S. Army Field Artillery Officer, Chief Judge Self is the President-Elect of the Council of Superior Court Judges. He has served as the co-chair of the Council’s Bench and Bar Committee and as a member of its Budget and Legislation Committees. Prior to his service on the bench, he was a partner with the law firm of Sell & Melton in Macon. He is a former President of the Macon Bar Association. In addition to his other judicial duties, Chief Judge Self presides over the Macon Judicial Circuit’s Veterans Treatment Court.

Chief Judge Self serves on the Museum of Aviation Foundation Board of Directors at Robins Air Force Base and the Executive Board of the Central Georgia Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He is a member of the Downtown Macon Rotary Club. In his free time, Chief Judge Self officiates college football in the NCAA’s Southern Conference.

Judge Self is a magna cum laude graduate of The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, and he graduated cum laude from the University of Georgia School of Law.

“The Georgia Supreme Court strongly supports the work of the Judicial Qualifications Commission in educating Georgia’s judges about their ethical duties and disciplining judges who violate the ethics rules,” Chief Justice Hugh Thompson said. “We believe Chief Judge Self is well-suited to assist in the work of this important commission.”