The Alcovy Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office
The Alcovy Judicial Circuit is comprised of both Newton and Walton Counties. The District Attorney's Office handles the prosecution of all cases in the Superior Courts of those Counties. Because there is no State Court in either county, our offices handle the prosecution of all misdemeanors and felonies. This includes crimes ranging from traffic offenses and shoplifting to murder, rape, and child molestation. However, our offices do not handle the prosecution matters in Probate or Municipal courts within our counties.
Please follow the below links for more information about each county and for staff information for each county
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The United States Supreme Court has said that a prosecutor "is the representative not of an ordinary party to a controversy, but of a sovereignty whose obligation to govern impartially is as compelling as its obligation to govern at all; and whose interest, therefore, in a criminal prosecution is not that it shall win a case, but that justice shall be done. As such, he is in a peculiar and very definite sense the servant of the law, the twofold aim of which is that guilt shall not escape or innocence suffer. He may prosecute with earnestness and vigor - indeed, he should do so. But, while he may strike hard blows, he is not at liberty to strike foul ones. It is as much his duty to refrain from improper methods calculated to produce a wrongful conviction as it is to use every legitimate means to bring about a just one." Berger v. US, 295 U.S. 78 (1935).
The District Attorney's Office is tasked with upholding the Constitutions of the United States and Georgia. Our goal is to provide fair, effective, and efficient prosecution of crimes in Newton and Walton Counties.
The duties and responsibilities of the District Attorney are determined by law by the Georgia Legislature and are spelled in OCGA 15-18-6. These duties include:
- To attend each session of the superior courts unless excused by the judge until all the business of the State is disposed of;
- Attend and advise the grand juries and swear and examine witnesses before them;
- Prepare all indictments presented to the grand jury;
- Prosecute all indictable offenses;
- Administer oaths required by law to the grand and trial jurors and to bailiffs and other officers of the courts;
- Aid the presiding judge in organizing the courts as required by the judge;
- Handle and argue all appeals of cases coming from the circuit;
- Advise law enforcement concerning the sufficiency of evidence, warrants, and other matters related to the investigation and prosecution of criminal offenses;
- Assist victims and witnesses of crimes through the complexities of the criminal justice system and ensure victims of crimes are aware of their rights under the law.
"A prosecutor has the responsibility of a minister of justice and not simply that of an advocate. This responsibility carries with it specific obligations to see that the defendant is accorded procedural justice and that guilt is decided upon the basis of sufficient evidence." Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct 3.8, Comment 1.