Judge Jeff Foster, current Judge of the Municipal Court of Social Circle, as well as former Associate Walton County Magistrate, Judge of Monroe Municipal Court, Assistant District Attorney and Chief Assistant District Attorney, was the first candidate to qualify for the seat being vacated by Judge Eugene M. Benton, who will retire at the end of this year when his term expires.

Foster, who has been managing member of his own law firm (Foster, Hanks & Ballard, LLC) practicing in domestic relations, criminal defense, estate and other civil litigation for the last 17 years, has lived in Monroe for 29 years and seeks to fill the seat held by Benton, and previously by Judge Marvin W. Sorrells, and Judge Tom Ridgeway, all of Monroe.  He has had offices and practiced law in Covington and Monroe since he began as in intern in August of 1992.  Foster notes that he is uniquely qualified as the only candidate to conduct jury trials as a prosecutor and a defense attorney, as well litigate numerous other domestic relations and civil matters, while also being a presiding judge for over 10 years.

Foster also spent over two years working with the Community Ministry Village as the director of Project Jumpstart, an accountability-based assistance, education and counseling program for individuals dealing with chronic housing instability and underemployment.  Judge Foster also provided free legal assistance to families in crisis through the Faith & Justice Program.  Foster and his family have been active in foster care, with Jeff having incorporated and served as member of the Board of Directors for Uniting Hope for Children, and subsequently he and his wife served as foster parents and adopted their youngest 3 of 7 children.

Judge Foster told a large crowd several weeks ago, “I have been presented with a unique set of opportunities and experiences over the last 28 years that have made me uniquely qualified for Judge of Superior Court.  There is no other candidate that has had offices in both counties, no other candidate has a similar breadth of courtroom experiences in different roles, with hundreds, if not over a thousand, hearings, and bench trials, and several dozen jury trials, nor the extensive time in court dealing with both criminal cases and domestic relations cases, which account for approximately 80% of all cases in the Superior Courts of this Circuit.  Having lived and worked in Walton and Newton Counties for nearly 30 years and having been invested in improving our community and the lives of our neighbors, I am best prepared to serve the Alcovy Circuit as Judge of the Superior Court.”