Habersham County Solicitor General William “Bill” Oliver is set to assume the bench next year. Governor Kemp appointed Oliver to the Mountain Judicial Circuit Superior Court, effective January 1, 2023.
Oliver will join justices Chan Caudell and Russell “Rusty” Smith in serving the three-county circuit, which includes Habersham, Stephens, and Rabun counties.
Lawmakers created the new judgeship earlier this year by passing Senate Bill 395. The legislation, sponsored by 50th District Sen. Bo Hatchett, aims to ease the circuit’s case backlog. The bill followed a report by the Judicial Workload Assessment Committee that ranked the Mountain Circuit third out of fifty for needing help with caseloads.
The governor selected Oliver from among a list of nominees submitted to the Judicial Nominating Commission. Oliver’s appointment runs through December 31, 2024, after which time an elected judge will begin a four-year term.
In 2011, then- Gov. Sonny Perdue appointed Oliver as solicitor. In addition to his duties as the prosecuting attorney for Habersham County State Court, the newly-appointed judge is a partner in the Clarkesville law firm Oliver & Weidner.
