May 5-- Superior Court Judge Kathy Palmer of the Middle Judicial Circuit became Secretary-Treasurer of the Council of Superior Court Judges on May 1, 2016. Her term of office and those of Council President Judge Horace J. Johnson, Jr., Alcovy Judicial Circuit, Covington, and President-Elect Tilman E. “Tripp” Self, III, Macon Judicial Circuit, Macon, run from May 1, 2016 to April 30, 2017.

The Council of Superior Court Judges is composed of the state’s 212 superior court judges and over 70 senior (retired) superior court judges. It was established by the state legislature in 1985 to further the improvement of the superior courts and the administration of justice in Georgia.

Judge Palmer graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Georgia in 1976 and attained her Juris Doctorate in 1979. Judge Palmer later was elected as a Superior Court Judge in the Middle Judicial Circuit and began her term in January 2001. She also currently serves as Chief Judge of her five-county circuit and as Administrative Judge.

Judge Palmer is actively involved in a number of the Council’s committees, which include the Executive Committee, the Indigent Defense Committee, and the Mandatory Continuing Judicial Education Committee. She also is a member of the Judicial Council of Georgia and is the current Chair of the Institute of Continuing Judicial Education of Georgia Board of Trustees.

As a lifetime 4-H’er, Judge Palmer is past Chair of the Georgia 4-H Foundation and currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Emanuel County 4-H Foundation. She also is a past member of the Executive Committee of the UGA Alumni Association.  

Through her volunteer activities on the local, regional and state level, Judge Palmer has received numerous local civic and church awards, as well as regional and state awards. She and her husband, Danny, are the proud parents of two sons and have one grandson.