Hon. Melanie B. Cross is a judge for the Tifton Judicial Circuit Superior Court in Georgia. She was elected to the bench in 2008.
The Tifton Judicial Circuit is comprised of Irwin, Tift, Turner, and Worth Counties.
During her judicial tenure, Cross has presided over the Tifton Judicial Circuit Accountability Courts.
Prior to her election, she had worked as a private practice attorney in Tifton since graduating from law school. Her areas of practice included insurance defense, plaintiff’s work, health care, commercial transactions, corporate law, banking law, general trial practice, and real estate matters.
In addition, Cross spent twelve years as a special assistant attorney general representing the State of Georgia and the Department of Human Resources, protecting the interests of children in deprivation, neglect, and abuse cases.
She received a B.B.A. in finance from the University of Georgia in 1989. Cross went on to complete a J.D. at Mercer University, Walter F. George School of Law in 1992. While a law student, she was a member of the Mercer Law Review, serving as the Managing Editor during her third year.
Her civic involvement has included the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Board of Trustees and the local chamber of commerce. Cross is also a graduate of Leadership Georgia, Class of 2010.
She was born and raised in Tifton, Georgia, and is a graduate of Tift County High School (1985). Cross and her husband, Ray, have three boys. The family resides in Tifton, where they attend St. Anne’s Episcopal Church.