THOMASVILLE — Voters across the Southern Judicial Circuit will have to choose a new judge to replace the retiring James Hardy. 

Two of the three candidates, Assistant District Attorney Catherine Smith and Lowndes County’s William Whitesell, spoke to a recent Thomas County Republican Party forum about the position and their candidacy.

The judgeship is a nonpartisan election.

Five counties — Brooks, Colquitt, Echols, Lowndes and Thomas — make up the circuit. 

“One of my opponents has made it clear that Valdosta carries 51% of the population and a higher caseload, so they deserve more of that judge’s time,” Smith said, “so he is actively advocating they deserve more of that seat. 

“But all five counties are important to each judge and they are accountable to every citizen. This race is not about where a judge will reside but who will replace our retiring judge.”

Smith said qualifications, not location, are the most important aspect in voting for a new judge. 

Smith, a Thomas County native, attended Wesleyan College and then University of Georgia Law School. The mother of four and a grandmother to four, Smith spent her first 10 years in private practice, where she did such matters as divorces and real estate.

She also did indigent defense work. Smith also noted she worked two death penalty cases and handled two federal jury trials. 

When the public defender system was revamped across the state, she was made chief assistant public defender for the Southern Circuit. 

“I took that love for making sure everyone had rights in our courtroom,” she said. 

Smith was recruited to the district attorney’s office and she was put to work prosecuting criminal cases. 

“I took to heart my love for women and children and I began prosecuting crimes against women and children,” she said. 

Smith also said she has prosecuted criminal gangs and felony murders. She also has had four jury trials in the last year in the county, resulting in four guilty verdicts. 

Since 2011, Smith said, she has handled more than 2,900 criminal cases. 

“One opponent has handled 38 in that same time period. One has handled none,” she said. “A judge needs that knowledge of people, that strong base in the law.”

Whitesell, a Presbyterian College graduate, grew up in Valdosta and attended Florida State University’s law school.

He was a law clerk for superior court judges over the summer. 

“I fell in love with the position while I was their clerk,” he said. 

He is a member of the Georgia and Florida bar and after three years of working with a Lowndes law firm, started his own practice. 

“I started doing more civil litigation and started doing municipal prosecution,” he said.

Whitesell has been the City of Remerton’s municipal court prosecutor for 19 years. He has prosecuted “thousands and thousands of cases” and “defended hundreds of cases in the criminal arena,” he said.

“I am uniquely qualified in that I have handled all the areas that superior court handles,” he said. “I’ve been doing that for 20 years uninterrupted. I am the only candidate that has done the things that will affect you, which is civil litigation.”

The third candidate is Robert L. Moore Jr., a Thomasville attorney.