Judge Lawton E. Stephens: Professional Background and Legal Expertise

Hon. Lawton E. Stephens is a judge for the Western Judicial Circuit Superior Court in Georgia. He was appointed to the bench by former Governor Zell Miller in 1991.

The Western Judicial Circuit is comprised of Athens-Clarke and Oconee Counties.

Over the course of his judicial tenure, Stephens has served as the presiding judge of the Western Judicial Circuit Felony Drug Court since 2011 and was named the Circuit’s Chief Judge in 2002. During his time as Chief Judge, Stephens was credited with establishing a probation service that was operated by the Unified Government to supervise misdemeanor offenders, and he was also instrumental in helping to develop the Athens-Clarke County Diversion-Work Release Center program. He held the position of Chief Judge until 2012.

Stephens received a bachelor’s degree in political science and U.S. history from the Unversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1977. He went on to complete a J.D. at the University of Georgia School of Law in 1981.

Prior to his appointment to the bench, Stephens practiced alongside his father for ten years at the Athens law firm of Stephens & Stephens (1981 to 1991).

In addition to maintaining his practice, he also briefly worked as an assistant prosecuting attorney for the Clarke County State Court (1986 to 1987) and spent four years in the political arena as a representative of the 68th District in the Georgia House of Representatives (1987 to 1991).

His memberships have included the Western Circuit Bar Association (past president), the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Continuing Judicial Education (chairman), the Council of Superior Court Judges of Georgia (president), the Chief Justice’s Indigent Defense Study Commission, the Next Generation’s Court Commission (chair), the Board of Governors of the State Bar of Georgia (Western Judicial Circuit representative), and the Georgia Supreme Court’s Committee on Justice for Children Board of the Northeast.

Stephens also sat as a member of the Board of Directors of the Northeast Georgia Council of the Boy Scouts of America, the Athens Technical College, the Frances Wood Wilson Foundation, the Georgia Legal History Foundation, and the Athens Area Community Foundation.

In addition, he was a past president of the Oconee County Rotary Club and held memberships with the Gridiron Secret Society and the Omicron Delta Kappa Honorary Leadership Organization.

Some of his accolades have included the Milner Ball Social Justice Award from the Athens Justice Coalition of Care with Family Counseling Service (2020), the Silver Beaver Award from the Northeast Georgia Council of the Boy Scouts of America (2019), the Emory Findley Award for Service to the Judiciary from the Council of Superior Court Judges (2015), the Justice Robert Benham Community Service Award from the State Bar of Georgia (2015), the Robert S. Stubbs Guardian of Ethics Award from the Oconee County Rotary Club (2011), the William E. “Billy” Hudson Distinguished Citizen Award from the Northeast Georgia Council of the Boy Scouts of America (2007), and the Legal Professional of the Year award from the Athens Association of Legal Professionals (2005).

Stephens is a graduate of Episcopal High School (1973) in Alexandria, Virginia. He has served as a deacon and an elder at First Presbyterian Church of Athens.