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LOCAL
March 24-30, 2016 » Page 11A
jaHaagnia
JACOBS
Continued From Page 8A
in legislation that changed the county
purchasing policy and set up the county’s
internal audit function.
“It was a very productive session,”
Jacobs said. “I think that session spoke
very well of what we can accomplish if
we listen to one another and work to find
common ground in DeKalb County.
“I hope that everything that we
accomplished in the 2015 session and
how we accomplished it is part of my
legacy going forward,” Jacobs said. “And
I certainly don’t take credit for all of it,
because we really did notch all of those
accomplishments as a team.”
His success during the 2015 legislative
session is one reason he decided to switch
to the courthouse.
“Legislative service is not meant to
last forever,” Jacobs said. “We’re a citizen
legislature and ultimately new people need
to come in and make their mark for the
benefit of the citizens of our county and our
state.”
In the General Assembly, Jacobs
served four years as vice chairman of the
House judiciary committee and seven
years as chairman of one of the two
subcommittees of the House judiciary
committee.
Jacobs said he “built a reputation for
listening to all sides of an issue and trying
to be fair to all of the stakeholders, which
is exactly the sort of thing that our judges
should be doing.”
It was a logical transition to the
courthouse when two seats opened up,
Jacobs said. He became a state court
judge in June 2015.
“I’m enjoying it,” Jacobs said about
being a judge. “I try to keep things lighter in
my courtroom when appropriate. Ultimately
I want all of the parties—lawyers and
litigants—to leave my courtroom feeling
that they got a fair hearing and that the
experience was as pleasant as it could be
under the circumstances.”
As a judge, Jacobs said he is seeking
to identify resources “to address the
addiction, mental health and other similar
issues that we encounter on a regular basis
in criminal cases.”
Jacobs said there are some
“outstanding resources in place already,”
but “those resources are not adequate to
address all of the issues that find their way
into the criminal justice system.
“Ultimately, as state court judges,
we are the first line of defense in the
criminal justice system in the sense that
...defendants that appear in our courtroom,
if they’re not empowered to address
underlying issues in their lives, may find
themselves back into the criminal justice
system—next time with a felony charge,”
Jacobs said.
When he’s not at work, Jacobs often
can be found often at his children’s soccer
practices and games and swim meets.
Jacobs’ wife of 13 years, Evan, is a
speech-language pathologist at Lakeside
High School. The couple have three
children: Jonah, 9, Eli, 7, and Samantha,
5.
“Family time is obviously the main thing
that I do outside the courthouse,” he said.
Jacobs said that one interesting aspect
of his job is that occasionally he finds
himself applying legal statutes that he
helped to write.
“It helps you recognize that the law
is like a fabric that many, many people
over many, many years had a hand in
developing and is still a work in progress,”
Jacobs said.
“It’s interesting to run into a little piece
of something in those [law] books that I
had a hand in writing, but then recognizing
that there’s so much in the law that greatly
affect the day-to-day lives of the citizens of
DeKalb County and...the state of Georgia.
“We all do our part to make things a
little better and then move on,” Jacobs said.
Professional trainer, Donna Satchell
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State Court Judge Mike Jacobs picked up the gavel after a
successful legislative session as a state representative. Photo by
Andrew Cauthen
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