Hon. LaTisha Dear Jackson
DeKalb County Superior Court
The Honorable LaTisha Dear Jackson was elected Superior Judge of the Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit in 2018. In both 2021 and 2022, Judge Jackson was selected to serve by designation as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia on two separate cases. Her service in 2022 was historic in that it was the first time the Supreme Court had an all-woman bench preside over oral arguments. After just nine months in office, Judge Jackson began serving as a Presiding Judge over Track 1 of the Circuit’s Drug Court. After a year of service, Judge Jackson was unanimously elected to serve as the Presiding Judge for the Circuit’s four Accountability Courts. In 2022, Judge Jackson was elected to serve as the Chief Judge of the Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit as well as the Administrative Judge for the Fourth Judicial Administrative District which is comprised of DeKalb and Rockdale Circuits.
Immediately before her election, Judge Jackson was a Senior Associate at Thomas Kennedy Sampson & Tompkins, LLP (“TKST”). There, she defended corporate and governmental clients in medical malpractice, wrongful death, premises liability, and insurance matters. She also represented individuals in personal injury and wrongful death matters.
Prior to joining TKST, Judge Jackson served as a full-time judge in the DeKalb County Recorders Court and sat by designation in both the Superior and State Courts of DeKalb County. In 2008, she made history by becoming both the first female and youngest judge to ever serve as a Municipal Court Judge in the City of Stone Mountain. In 2012, she again made history by becoming the first female Chief Municipal Court Judge in the City of Lithonia.
Prior to becoming a member of the judiciary, Judge Jackson was a solo practitioner handling juvenile and family law matters as well as criminal defense. Judge Jackson also served as an Assistant Solicitor General in DeKalb County.
Judge Jackson earned her Juris Doctorate from Georgia State University and her undergraduate degree from the prestigious Spelman College.
A native of Los Angeles, California, Judge Jackson is active in numerous professional organizations. She is a current member of both GAWL and GABWA’s Judicial Applicant Review Committees. In 2014, Judge Jackson was appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia to serve on its Access to Justice Committee, where she continually works to ensure that there is unfettered access to the courts by litigants and the public as they navigate the judicial system. She is a member of several bar associations which include the Atlanta, DeKalb and Gate City Bar Associations and DeKalb Lawyers Association where she served an unprecedented two-year term as President and currently serves as the Judicial Section and Review Committee Chair. Judge Jackson is the Immediate Past Chair of the State Bar of Georgia’s Judicial Section after serving as Chair for three years. She is also a Past President of the Georgia Council of Municipal Court Judges and a current member of the State’s Judicial Council.
In her community, Judge Jackson has served on the Board of Directors for the Georgia Center for Children and is a 2006 graduate of Leadership DeKalb, where she currently serves as a Board of Director and on the Selection Committee, a committee she’s chaired for over a decade. Judge Jackson currently serves as a DeKalb County Board Member for Boys and Girls Club Metro Atlanta and is a proud twenty-six-year active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Judge Jackson has traveled throughout the Southeastern United States and the State of Georgia presenting on various judicial and legal issues with a passion for professionalism and access to justice. She also speaks at various schools throughout the metro-Atlanta area. As a continued investment to the youth, Judge Jackson created a three-year program in the DeKalb County Public School System entitled I. L.E.A.D. (Interactive Law and Education Development) Program, a program that focused on educating high school students on the law while strengthening their comprehension and writing skills.
Judge Jackson not only works and serves DeKalb County, but she also resides there calling it home with her husband Gari Jackson. She is a member of Ray of Hope Christian Church and served for several years as the co-coordinator for the youth, young adult, and college student ministries.
As a testament to her accomplishments, she has received several honors, been featured in several newspapers and magazines as well as her sorority’s international magazine. She has also been honored by her sorority, several county and city associations and elected leaders including receiving the Council for Municipal Court Judges President’s Award for her commitment to access and fairness in Georgia courts. In all that she does and has accomplished thus far, Judge Jackson remains humbled, inspired, and motivated to continue to seek justice because there are still so many lives left to be touched.
