LaTisha Dear Jackson was recently elevated to chief judge of the DeKalb County Superior Court. Since then, the judge has had a tumultuous 2023, contending with a flooded courthouse, remote work and the opportunity to hear oral arguments as part of the state Supreme Court’s first all-female panel of judges. 

Dear Jackson is in her fifth year on the DeKalb Superior Court. She previously worked as a solicitor, spent time in private practice, served on the DeKalb County Recorders Court and became the first Black woman to be elected as a municipal court judge in Stone Mountain and a state court judge in Lithonia.