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Shawn LaGrua
2021 - Present
2029
4
Shawn Ellen LaGrua is a judge of the Georgia Supreme Court. She assumed office on January 19, 2021. Her current term ends on January 1, 2029.
LaGrua ran for re-election for judge of the Georgia Supreme Court. She won in the general election on May 24, 2022.
LaGrua became a member of the state supreme court by appointment. She was appointed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp on December 1, 2020, to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Keith Blackwell. She was sworn in on January 7, 2021, for a term beginning January 19, 2021.[1][2] To learn more about this appointment, click here.
Biography
Shawn LaGrua received an undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Georgia in 1984 and a J.D. from Georgia State University College of Law in 1987.[1]
LaGrua's career experience includes working as the inspector general with the Georgia Secretary of State's Office, the solicitor general and a senior assistant district attorney with DeKalb County, the chief assistant district attorney with the Tallapoosa Circuit Court, and the chief senior assistant district attorney with Fulton County. She served on the Superior Court of the Atlanta Judicial Circuit from 2010 to 2021.[3]
As of July 2021, LaGrua chaired Supreme Court Chief Justice Harold D. Melton’s COVID-19 Task Force. She previously chaired the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers, Judicial Application Review Committee, and the Judicial Council’s Process Servers Committee. She was also president of the Council of Superior Court Judges.[3]
Elections
2022
See also: Georgia Supreme Court elections, 2022
General election
General election for Georgia Supreme Court
Incumbent Shawn Ellen LaGrua won election in the general election for Georgia Supreme Court on May 24, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Shawn Ellen LaGrua (Nonpartisan) | 100.0 | 1,623,542 |
| Total votes: 1,623,542 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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2020
See also: Municipal elections in Fulton County, Georgia (2020)
General election
General election for Georgia 5th Superior Court District Atlanta Circuit
Incumbent Shawn Ellen LaGrua won election in the general election for Georgia 5th Superior Court District Atlanta Circuit on June 9, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Shawn Ellen LaGrua (Nonpartisan) | 100.0 | 178,311 |
| Total votes: 178,311 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2012
- See also: Georgia judicial elections, 2012
LaGrua ran unopposed for re-election to the Fulton Superior Court. She was re-elected after receiving 99.7% of the vote in the July 31 election.[4]
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Shawn Ellen LaGrua did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Appointments
2021
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R) appointed Shawn LaGrua to the Georgia Supreme Court on December 1, 2020. LaGrua succeeded Justice Keith Blackwell, who retired on November 18, 2020. LaGrua was Kemp's second nominee to the nine-member court.
Blackwell announced his retirement on February 28, 2020. In a letter to Gov. Kemp, Blackwell said he wanted to return to private practice.[5]
Blackwell's seat was expected to be up for nonpartisan election on June 9, 2020. When Blackwell announced his retirement, the Georgia Supreme Court said the governor would appoint Blackwell's replacement. The appointment was challenged in court, and the state supreme court ruled in a 6-2 opinion on May 14, 2020, that the secretary of state could not be compelled to hold the election. Click here for more information.
Under Georgia law as of November 2020, supreme court vacancies were filled by assisted appointment. The governor chose an appointee from a list of candidates compiled by the Georgia Judicial Nominating Commission.
2009
LaGrua was appointed to the 5th Superior Court District of Georgia on December 29, 2009, by Governor Sonny Perdue (R). The judgeship was created by the Georgia General Assembly.[6]
State supreme court judicial selection in Georgia
- See also: Judicial selection in Georgia
The nine justices on the Georgia Supreme Court are chosen by popular vote in nonpartisan elections. They serve six-year terms, after which they must run for re-election if they wish to retain their seats.[7]
Qualifications
To serve on this court, a judge must be:
Chief justice
The chief justice is selected by peer vote and serves in that capacity for four years.[7]
Vacancies
If a vacancy appears on the court, the position is filled by assisted appointment. The governor chooses an appointee from a list of qualified candidates compiled by the judicial nominating commission. As of March 2023, the judicial nominating commission consisted of 35 members, each appointed by the governor. For each court vacancy, the commission recommends candidates, but the governor is not bound to the commission's choices and may choose to appoint a judge not found on the list.[8] If appointed, an interim judge must run in the next general election held at least six months after the appointment, and, if confirmed by voters, he or she may finish the rest of the predecessor's term.[7][9][10] There is one current vacancy on the Georgia Supreme Court, out of the court's 9 judicial positions. The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 CBS46, "Governor Kemp makes appointment to the Georgia Supreme Court," December 1, 2020
- ↑ Supreme Court of Georgia, "1/7/2021 – SHAWN LAGRUA SWORN INTO GA SUPREME COURT," January 7, 2021
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Georgia Supreme Court, "Justice Shawn Ellen LaGrua," accessed January 27, 2021
- ↑ Fulton County, "JULY 2012 GEMS SOVC REPORT," accessed July 28, 2021
- ↑ U.S. News, "Georgia Supreme Court Justice Announces Plans to Resign," February 28, 2020
- ↑ Governor Sonny Perdue, "Governor Perdue Announces Judicial Appointments," December 29, 2009
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Georgia," archived October 2, 2014
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Georgia; Judicial Nominating Commissions," archived October 2, 2014
- ↑ Governor Brian Kemp, "Executive Order," accessed March 29, 2023
- ↑ Governor Brian Kemp, "Gov. Kemp Names 35 to Judicial Nominating Commission," October 27, 2021
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