Ken Hodges

Ken Hodges
Former District Attorney for Dougherty County, Georgia
In office
January 7, 1996 – October 1, 2008
Former candidate for Georgia Attorney General
Personal details
Born (1965-09-22) September 22, 1965
Albany, Georgia
Nationality American
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Melissa Hodges
Alma mater Emory University
University of Georgia (J.D.)
Occupation Lawyer
Website Ken Hodges for Georgia Attorney General

Kenneth (Ken) B. Hodges III is the former District Attorney for Dougherty County, Georgia in the United States and was the Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Georgia in 2010, ultimately losing his bid.

Background

Hodges was born and raised in Albany, Georgia and went on to receive his bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and Sociology from Emory University in 1988 and his law degree from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1991. His wife, Melissa, grew up in Gwinnett County and graduated from The Marist School in Atlanta. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana and worked as a television news anchor and reporter. The couple was married in 2004 and currently live in Atlanta with their daughter and son.

Career

After graduating from law school at the University of Georgia, Hodges worked at an Atlanta law firm before returning to his hometown of Albany, Georgia, in 1996 to run a successful campaign for District Attorney.[1] Hodges served as District Attorney for 12 years, gaining re-election in 2000 and 2004.[2][3]

During his career as attorney and District Attorney for Dougherty County, Hodges has argued in front of the Georgia Court of Appeals and the Georgia Supreme Court. Hodges was instrumental in the 2002 prosecution of Sidney Dorsey, a former DeKalb County Sheriff who ordered the assassination of his successor, Derwin Brown.[4][5] Ultimately, Dorsey was found guilty on eleven counts, including murder and racketeering.[6]

Ken Hodges also served as President of the Georgia District Attorney’s Association and in 2002 was recognized as Georgia’s District Attorney of the Year. He has also chaired the Prosecuting Attorney’s Council (PAC), and is a Fellow of the Lawyer’s Foundation of Georgia.

He is a graduate of Leadership Albany and Leadership Georgia, and was on the Board of Trustees for Leadership Georgia. He has been listed on Georgia Trend Magazine’s “40 under 40” and the Fulton County Daily Report’s “Attorneys on the Rise.”

In 2013, Hodges was honored by the State Bar of Georgia’s Committee to Promote Inclusion in the Profession with the Commitment to Equality Award. Hodges was selected for the honor because of "his contributions to the advancement of diversity, including his prior service as District Attorney for the Dougherty Judicial Circuit, hiring as his chief assistant the African American prosecutor who later became his successor. During his three terms, Hodges had one of the most proportionately diverse offices in the state and, in many instances, helped his minority assistants move on to become federal prosecutors or secure positions in private practice. As district attorney, he maintained an internship program with Albany State University, one of Georgia’s historical black universities."[7]

In 2013, Hodges was elected by Georgia's attorneys to serve on the Executive Committee of the State Bar of Georgia. Hodges currently serves on the Board of Governors for the State Bar of Georgia, and multiple committees, including the Advisory Committee on Legislation.[8]

Ken Hodges is currently Secretary and serves on the Board of Trustees for the Urban League of Atlanta.[9]

In August 2009, Candidate Hodges received the endorsement of Andrew Young, former Mayor of Atlanta and United States Ambassador to the United Nations under President Jimmy Carter. Young praised Hodges for “his commitment to equal rights and the fair application of justice during his years of service in Albany.”[10]

Hodges has also received the endorsements of former Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears, the first African-American female Chief Justice in the United States,[11] Mark Taylor, former lieutenant governor of Georgia,[12] and Sam Nunn, former United States senator from Georgia.[13]

In January 2011, Hodges joined Atlanta law firm Rafuse Hill & Hodges, LLP[14] as a partner in the litigation division.[15] Rafuse Hill & Hodges has a national litigation practice focusing on employment, civil rights, products liability and commercial disputes.

Controversial actions

As DA he requested a warrantless search of a physician's phone records, as retaliatory strike, against the physician—who questioned certain billing practices at the local hospital Phoebe Putney.[16][17] Ken Hodges was personally sued, successfully, in the same District Court in Albany, where Judge W. Louis Sands ruled against him for many lapses in prosecutorial judgment, but however, because the case finally impinged on "absolute immunity for grand jurors" the District Court decision went all the way to the SCOTUS where it was then overturned.[18]

References

  1. ↑ http://sos.georgia.gov/elections/election_results/1996_1105/judicial.htm
  2. ↑ http://sos.georgia.gov/elections/election_results/2000_0718/judicial.htm#da
  3. ↑ http://sos.georgia.gov/elections/election_results/2004_0720/judicial.htm#da
  4. ↑ Smith, Ben (2002-06-30). "Albany setting might work against Dorsey". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Georgia).
  5. ↑ "Former Sheriff Goes To Trial in Georgia In Successor's Killing". The New York Times. 2002-06-18. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
  6. ↑ "Former Sheriff Guilty in Successor's Killing". The New York Times. 2002-07-11. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
  7. ↑ http://www.albanyherald.com/news/2013/may/12/former-dougherty-d-hodges-honored/
  8. ↑ http://www.gabar.org/aboutthebar/statebarexecutivecommittee.cfm
  9. ↑ http://ulgatl.org/about/board
  10. ↑ http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/young-endorses-hodges-for-117788.html#story-continued
  11. ↑ http://blogs.ajc.com/gold-dome-live/2009/09/15/sears-endorsing-hodges-for-attorney-general/
  12. ↑ "Endorsement fever: Roy Barnes tightens his grip, and Sam Olens shows GOP depth". The Atlanta Journal Constitution Political Insider. 2010-07-15. Retrieved 2010-07-19.
  13. ↑ http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider-jim-galloway/2009/10/28/your-morning-jolt-maynard-jacksons-daughter-to-endorse-kasim-reed/
  14. ↑ http://www.rafusehill.com
  15. ↑ http://www.dailyreportonline.com/Editorial/News/singleEdit.asp?origin=NewsFile&l=nf1137110
  16. ↑ http://www.peachpundit.com/2010/02/01/the-curious-case-of-ken-hodges-your-democratic-candidate-for-attorney-general/
  17. ↑ http://www.peachpundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Hodges4.pdf
  18. ↑ http://www.georgiahealthnews.com/2011/11/albany-faxers-case-wound-supreme-court/
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