GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - Ronda Colvin Leary is the first African-American candidate to be elected to a countywide Gwinnett seat, and with that, on Thursday, she became the first African-American to be elected to the State Court bench in the Gwinnett Circuit.
In a ceremony of the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center auditorium, fellow judges and county employees watched the conferring of the robe by Judge Angela Brown.
"It is an honor to stand here in a county that I practice in and that I love, to confer the robe upon my friend. In the Bible, there is always a conference of a mantle from one person to the next and it represents putting on the robe of wisdom, putting on the robe of knowledge, putting on the robe of compassion, and I stand here as a baby judge from Magistrate Court in Cobb County, but you have all these judges here who are wonderful judges in Gwinnett County. You have state wide judges who are proud of you," Judge Brown told Leary.
"I just want to thank you for the bottom of my heart for you to take the time out and celebrate this occasion with me," Leary told the audience. "I can't begin to call the names because it would take me all day and I would forget some people. Thank you to the Gwinnett County bench who have embraced me with open arms who 've been there if I have questions. I just feel loved."
Leary also thanked her family and staff, "We are going to have an outstanding courtroom."
Leary and her husband have two daughters. She was raised in rural Alabama and is the oldest of four children. For the last 11 years she has had her own private law practice in Gwinnett County. She is als a prosecutor for the City of Winder and since 2011 served as its solicitor.
