Clarkesville attorney Tricia Hise will serve as Habersham County’s new chief magistrate judge. Mountain Judicial Circuit Court justices Russell Smith, Chan Caudell, and Bill Oliver appointed her to the post unanimously.
Hise will fill the seat that’s been vacant since October 2021 when the state supreme court suspended then-chief magistrate Gerald Johnson.
Johnson formally resigned on January 11 of this year. Hise will serve the remainder of his unexpired term through December 31, 2024. After that, she may run for re-election.
“I am really excited, and very thrilled,” Hise tells Now Habersham about her appointment. “It’s such an honor and I am very thankful for the opportunity. Being from Habersham, I am very excited to be able to serve in this capacity.”
A ‘different perspective’
A Habersham Central High School graduate, Hise earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Georgia and her law degree from Southwestern University. The State Bar admitted her in 2005.
From 2005-2007, Hise worked in the Mountain Judicial Circuit district attorney’s office as an assistant DA. Since 2012, she has been a partner at Hotard & Hise, Attorneys at Law. The law firm is in the old Burns Sutton House on Washington Street. As a young girl, Hise says she would pass by the house with her parents on their way to church and dream of having an office there.
That dream came true, and soon so will another when Hise is sworn in as judge on February 17.
Hise’s appointment not only brings the magistrate court back up to full staff but also marks the return of an attorney to the chief magistrate’s office. Johnson held the job for seven years but was not a lawyer, he was a career law enforcement officer. Hise says her experience as a law clerk, assistant DA, and criminal defense attorney will help her in her new role.
“I appreciate and understand the Constitutionality of what goes into working a case beginning to end from a prosecution and defense perspective,” she says. “I feel like I bring kind of a different perspective to the table.”
Georgia’s magistrate courts hear applications for search warrants, county ordinance violations, garnishments, eviction cases, as well as civil claims for damages where the amount claimed does not exceed $15,000. They also set bail for most criminal offenses, conduct trials related to bad check cases, and hear cases related to the foreclosure of certain liens.
Shout-out and gratitude
While state law does not preclude her from continuing with her private practice, Hise says her focus is on settling into her new job as judge. She is sure to bring much-needed relief to her fellow magistrate, who held down the court in Johnson’s absence.
“I want to give a huge shout-out and credit to Judge Amy Thomas for what she has done for our county. She has been on call answering the phone in the middle of the night when law enforcement has called for arrest warrants and search warrants for over a year,” says Hise. She calls Judge Thomas’ actions “admirable” and says, “I look forward to working with her.”
Hise lives in Cornelia with her husband, Nathan Dilday, and their son, Max,
A past president of the Mountain Circuit Bar Association, Hise previously ran for state Senate. She serves as an attorney coach for Habersham Central’s mock trial team and on the steering committee for the Habersham Chamber SOAR professional women’s group.
Hise is actively involved in numerous other civic and charitable organizations. She says she appreciates this new opportunity to serve her community.
“I look forward to being on the bench. My family and I are thrilled that this has come to fruition,” she says. “I’m blessed beyond measure that the good Lord has allowed me to live my dream!”
