Gov. Brian P. Kemp Monday announced the following appointments to judgeships in the Habersham County-based Mountain Judicial Circuit: Nichole Carswell to the Mountain Circuit Superior Court, filling the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Chan Caudell, and Carlton “Hobbie” Jones III to fill the vacancy created by the death of Judge Rusty Smith.
Judge Carswell currently serves as the juvenile court judge of the Mountain Judicial Circuit and the presiding judge of the Mountain Judicial Circuit Family Dependency Treatment Court. Before being appointed as the first full time juvenile court judge of the circuit in 2017, she was a partner at McClure, Ramsay, Dickerson & Escoe, LLP in Toccoa, where her practice encompassed family law, adoptions, real estate law, probate, appellate law, and general litigation.
In addition to her position as the juvenile court judge for the Mountain Judicial Circuit, Judge Carswell has served as a superior court judge pro temp and as the presiding judge for the Rabun County Felony Drug Court.
Judge Jones is currently the probate judge in Rabun County, where he has served since his election in 2020. At various times in his 39-year career, he has also served as a municipal judge, a state court judge (by special appointment), and a magistrate judge. Judge Jones started his career in 1986 as an associate attorney at Glover and Davis, P.A. in Newnan and Peachtree City, Georgia. He practiced law in the Fayette County, Coweta County, and South Fulton area until 2015, when he returned to his native Rabun County. During that time, he maintained an active litigation practice with an emphasis on personal injury, domestic relations, and estate disputes. He is also a trained mediator.
In addition to Habersham, Stephens and Rabun counties are also in the Mountain Judicial Circuit.