Bonnie Chessher Oliver, long-time Superior Court Judge of the Gainesville-based Northeastern Judicial Circuit, will retire effective December 1, having served more than 28 years on the bench.
“Serving as a Superior Court Judge has been one of the greatest honors of my life,” Judge Oliver said Wednesday afternoon. “I am deeply grateful for the trust the people of this community placed in me and for the opportunity to serve alongside so many dedicated judges, attorneys, court staff, and public servants…(as) I retire from the bench, I do so with tremendous gratitude for the people who invested their time and talents in me, especially my mentor Wyc Orr, my longtime Chief Bailiff Bobby Hall, and my long serving campaign chair Jim Walters.”
Judge Oliver was first appointed Hall County State Court Judge in1998 by Governor Zell Miller after 17 years of law practice. She was subsequently appointed to the Superior Court bench in 1999 by Governor Roy Barnes. She has since been elected without opposition seven times.
She was a founding member of the E. Wycliffe Orr Inn of Court. She started the circuit’s first Parental Accountability Court in 2010, which she presided over until 2022, surpassing one million dollars in child support collected. Judge Oliver received the 2012 Rotary Club Guardian of Ethics Award, the 2022 Northeast Georgia Council of Boy Scouts Distinguished Citizen Award, and the Judge A.R. Kenyon Law Day Award in 2026.
After retirement, she plans to remain active as a Senior Judge, mediator and arbitrator.