Politics & Government

Homier Makes State Court Bid

She is seeking the seat of retiring Cherokee County State Court Judge C.J. Gober.

Driven by a desire to serve the county where she grew up, Great Sky resident Michelle Leigh Holbrook Homier wants a spot on the Cherokee County State Court bench.

"This county is my people," the Woodstock native and  alumna said. "It is my blood. I want nothing more than to proudly represent Cherokee County as state court judge."

A local attorney who has experience with the Fulton County Public Defender's Office and the , Homier is the second person to enter the race.

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In March, Canton attorney  announced he was running for the seat, which is being vacated by retiring Judge C.J. Gober.

Homier said she is qualified to fill Gober's seat because of her perspective.

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"I have been both a defense attorney and a prosecutor for about equal parts of my career," she said. "I believe I can be fair and just to both sides of any case."

If elected, she said she will "examine how individuals came before my Court" so it won't happen again.

"To understand where we want to go, we need to start with our past," said Homier, who has a history degree from  and a law degree from the . "This is what I will strive to do most as a state court judge."

FULL TEXT OF HOMIER'S ANNOUNCEMENT

I, Michelle Leigh Holbrook Homier, announce my campaign for State Court Judge. I currently live in the Great Sky community of Canton. I am running against Jeff Rusbridge for the seat on the bench being vacated by Judge Gober. I am a native Cherokee County resident, having been raised in Woodstock. I attended public schools in the County, graduating from Sequoyah High School in 1996. Thereafter, I attended Georgia Tech and graduated with a Bachelors of Science in History, Technology, and Society. I worked in the Georgia General Assembly as a Senate Intern in college, and after college, I was a case clerk with Alston and Bird in Atlanta. I attended law school at the University of Georgia, graduating in 2003. My legal career began in law school with several Public Defender agencies, and after graduation, I worked for over four years with the Fulton County Public Defender's Office. In 2007, my husband, my college sweetheart, Tony Homier, and I moved back to Cherokee County to raise our family. My parents, Jon and Jan Holbrook, still live in the County - in the Lathemtown community now - and since my grandfather's family extends back generations in Cherokee County, I have always felt that this county is my home. My grandfather, Grady Poole, has told me many a story about the county as it was in the 1930s and early 1940s and how his grandfather helped build some of the dorms at Reinhardt. The education I obtained in the public schools of this county and the excellent environment to grow up made me want to raise my own family none other than here. Our son Riley is 4 years old and his sister Paleigh is 2 years old. Shortly after our son was born, I began working for the Cherokee County Solicitor-General's office and have been there ever since. I began my work there in the traffic court division and have really re-connected with traffic problems and systems. My senior thesis in college was on the Development of Traffic Management Control Systems. I have handled other cases while at the Solicitor's office, and of course various assortment of cases at the Public Defender's office as well. Traffic court, though, keeps me grounded to the feelings of the general public. This county is my people, it is my blood, and I want nothing more than to proudly represent Cherokee County as State Court Judge. I am a member of Blue Ridge Bar Association and the American Bar Association. I am admitted to practice before the Georgia Court of Appeals and the Georgia Supreme Court and all lower Georgia courts. I have been both a defense attorney and a prosecutor for about equal parts of my career, and I believe I can be fair and just to both sides of any case that comes into court. More importantly, though, I feel that like my background in history from Georgia Tech has taught me - to understand where we are want to go, we need to start with our past, to start from the beginning. This is what I will strive to do most as a State Court Judge - examine how an individual came before my Court and try and keep that from happening again if it is a criminal case or if it is a civil case, try to resolve all foreseeable issues so that a person feels that the interaction with the judicial system was just, fair, and thorough. 

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