DA Randy McGinley announces office leadership

Upon becoming the Acting District Attorney in June and being elected as the District Attorney in November, I have spent hours reviewing the structure and policies of the DA's office. Having been a prosecutor in this circuit since 2011 and as the Chief Assistant from 2017- 2020, I have worked extensively in both Newton and Walton Counties. Both these offices are full of incredible individuals that work hard to help the people of our communities.

I am proud to announce that my office will have two Chief Assistants, one in charge of each office:

Cliff Howard is our Chief Assistant in the Walton County Office. Cliff has been a prosecutor in Walton County since 2006. He has prior experience in private practice representing victims of crimes and was previously the Chief Assistant in the DeKalb County Solicitor's Office in the mid-1990s. He has handled the many of the most serious and complicated cases in our Walton Office for years. Additionally, he has years of experience supervising attorneys and assisting the many agencies that we work with.

Amber Dally is our Chief Assistant in the Newton County Office. As a career prosecutor, Amber has been prosecuting with our Newton Office since 2014. Amber has been a supervising attorney for a number of years that also handled the prosecution of the most complicated and difficult cases. Additionally, Amber has been the prosecutor assigned to the Newton County Felony Drug Court Program for about two years.

Amber and Cliff, as the Chief Assistants, will be assisting DA Randy McGinley in supervising and managing each office. They will also handle many of the serious violent felonies and other complicated cases. Additionally, they will be heavily involved in working with all of the agencies that work with our office: law enforcement, DFCS, child advocacy centers, and other community partners.

Additionally, each office will have a Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney. Rich Vandever in Newton and Jennifer Hendee in Walton. Additionally, Jillian Hall is a Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney that is assigned to Resource Courts in each county, Veterans Court in Newton County, and as a supervising attorney in Newton County. Jacqueline Fletcher and Bailey Wilkinson are the Senior Assistant District Attorneys in each office. They will assist in the supervision of other ADAs while handling a wide range of cases including murders, sex crimes, and other complicated matters.

I have also included the updated organization chart for the Alcovy Circuit. Over the coming days, I will be highlighting the other senior members of the office as well as the non-attorney members of the leadership team.

New Prosecutors start in Newton and Walton Counties

District Attorney Randy McGinley is proud to announce the hiring of two new career prosecutors that come to the Alcovy Judicial Circuit after years of experience handling the most serious cases and helping the most vulnerable victims:

Rich Vandever joins our Newton County Office as a Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney. Rich has been a prosecutor for over 20 years. Rich has handled prosecutions of murders, sex crimes, and other of the most difficult and complicated cases. Additionally, he has years of experience in supervising and training prosecutors and law enforcement.

Jennifer Hendee joins our Walton County Office as a Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney with about 15 years of prior experience as a prosecutor. Jennifer has prosecuted murders, human trafficking, sex crimes, and other serious matters. She also has experience supervising other prosecutors.

Please join me in welcoming Rich and Jennifer to the Alcovy Judicial Circuit. - Randy McGinley

Randy McGinley sworn in as District Attorney

Today, Randy McGinley was sworn in as the District Attorney of the Alcovy Judicial Circuit, covering Newton and Walton Counties. Randy served has served as the Acting District Attorney since June 2, 2020. He now officially takes office as the District Attorney for a four year term.

Randy was sworn in as District Attorney by Judge Layla Zon at the Historic Courthouse in Monroe, Walton County. He was joined for the oath by his wife and two daughters. Also in attendance were Randy's parents and in-laws, members of the DA's Offices, all of the Superior Court Judges (Chief Judge Ott, Judge Benton, Judge Wynne, Judge Zon, Judge McCamy, and Judge Foster), members of local law enforcement, and friends.

From Randy: I look forward to continuing to serve the people of Newton and Walton Counties as I have for almost 10 years. Our offices are full of wonderful individuals that work day in and day out to achieve justice and help victims of crimes in our communities. I assure you that we will continue to be DA's Office that always strives to do the right thing and works harder than anyone to achieve that. I remain committed to working with the community to ensure that Newton and Walton Counties are a place where we want to raise our families.

I cannot thank my wife and family enough for their love and support. I also want to thank everyone that came today and all those that could not but have supported and helped me along the way. Thank you to the people of Newton and Walton County who have entrusted me in this job. And finally, I want to thank everyone in the Newton and Walton DA's Offices for their hard work and dedication in serving our communities.