Straight out of law school in 1999, Robert James Jr. became the first African-American to serve as an assistant district attorney in Rockdale County, Ga. More than a decade later, the Georgia State University College of Law graduate is now the top prosecutor in DeKalb County, overseeing the state’s second-largest district attorney’s office with 55 lawyers and more than 150 employees.
James, who was elected to serve the remainder of Gwendolyn Keyes Fleming’s four-year term as district attorney, took his oath in November 2010. He came to the post after a four-year stint as the county’s elected solicitor general. As the solicitor, James supervised criminal misdemeanor offenses brought in state court. On the policy front, James helped put together the Jobs Not Jail program, to give first-time offenders a chance to rebuild their lives, and he spearheaded an anti-truancy effort called Perfect Attendance.
