Hall County State Court has named Larry A. Baldwin its new Chief Judge, effective February 1, 2023, following the retirement of former Chief Judge B. E. Roberts, III. Judge Baldwin is a veteran of the court, having first been appointed by Governor Sonny Perdue in 2008 and since elected by voters to four successive terms.
Since joining the bench, Judge Baldwin has been an active member of the Council of State Court Judges and volunteers his time as a member of the Legislative, Case Count, and DUI Court Committees. Since 2011, he has served as the Presiding Judge of the Hall County DUI Accountability Court program, and is a member of the State of Georgia’s Council of Accountability Court Judges and its Funding Committee.
Civically, Judge Baldwin is a past President and current Board Member of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Lanier. He also serves on the Finance Committee at the Gateway Domestic Violence Center, and is a past President of the Northeastern Judicial Circuit’s Domestic Violence Task Force. He is a member of the State Bar of Georgia and the Northeastern Circuit Bar Association, as well as a current member and past President of the Kiwanis Club of Gainesville. In 2008, he was recognized for his civic contributions by being named as the Jaycees’ Gainesville-Hall County Young Man of the Year.
Prior to his judicial service, Judge Baldwin served as Hall County’s Solicitor-General from 2004-2008. In total, he served over ten years in the Solicitor’s Office and worked as the prosecutor in Hall County DUI Court from that court’s creation in 2003 until 2008. After graduating from the Emory School of Law on a full scholarship in 1994, he was in private practice for three years. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Florida State University in 1990.
Judge Baldwin and his wife, Elisabeth, reside in Murrayville with their twin fourteen-year-old daughters, Madeline and Theresa Lee, along with the girls’ dog and three cats. He and his family are active members of Gainesville First Baptist Church where he chairs the Stewardship Committee.
Hall County has three State Court judgeships, each elected to four-year terms. Judge Baldwin is currently joined by Judge John G. Breakfield. Due to the vacancy created by Judge Roberts’ retirement, Governor Brian Kemp now has the opportunity to appoint a successor to the vacant third judgeship.