With five candidates – and no incumbent – the Bulloch County Probate Court judge race is the local contest in Tuesday’s election where a runoff is the most likely.
As with other races involving three or more candidates, if none emerges from Tuesday night’s count with more than 50 percent of the votes, the two top vote-getters will go into a runoff to be decided July 26.
Probate Judge Lee DeLoach’s decision to retire this coming December after 30 years in office presaged this battle.
The candidates are lawyer Charlie Aaron, paralegal and law firm office manager Lorna DeLoach, Desert Storm and Iraq War veteran Lonnie Ellis, Statesboro police detective Kevin Wadley, and former Statesboro High School principal Dr. Marty Waters.
Five contenders
Charlie Aaron has worked with the local firm Edenfield, Cox, Bruce & Classens as an attorney since 2002, after serving there as a law clerk the previous summer.
A 2002 graduate of University of Georgia School of Law, Aaron was named as a Georgia Legal Rising Star by the Super Lawyers group in 2011-2013 and in 2016. He is a past president of the Bulloch County Bar Association.
“We’ve had a good Probate Court judge here in the county for almost 30 years, but now he’s retiring. …,” Aaron said in an April 19 forum. “Based upon the fact that I am an attorney, I have practiced for 13 years, I am the candidate that is most qualified to step into that position on day one and make that transition as seamless as it can possibly be.”
Georgia law requires that a county with more than 90,000 people have an attorney as its probate judge. But Bulloch County has about 72,000 people, according to the most recent U.S. Census estimates, and a number of similar-size Georgia counties still have non-attorney probate judges.
Lorna DeLoach, whose husband is a distant cousin of Lee DeLoach, has 33 years of experience as a legal assistant and paralegal. Beginning in 1983 while working at a Savannah law firm, she took paralegal classes from the Coastal Georgia Center, offered by Armstrong State University and Georgia Southern University. Her first certification was in wills and probate law.
Since returning to Statesboro in 1988, DeLoach has worked for several local law practices. She is now with the Stafford Law Group, where she is office manager, as well as the firm’s paralegal for wills and probate law, real estate law, and corporate law.
“In preparing wills, probates, administrations and handling real estate closings, I have touched over approximately 3,000 estate matters during my career. …,” DeLoach said at the April forum. “But this is not only about experience. The Probate Court is a court for the people, and in dealing with people you must have compassion, you must be a people person.”
Ellis served in both the Marine Corps and the Army and is president of Dexter Allen American Legion Post 90 in Statesboro. He was deployed with the Marines during Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and deployed again to Iraq with the Army in December 2009. He retired from the military in 2012 after receiving several awards, including the National Defense Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.
Not just a veteran, he has a bachelor’s degree in legal studies from South University, is completing a master’s in business, and has said he hopes to go on to law school in a night program while serving as judge.
“I’m running my campaign on the four pillars of democracy: justice, freedom, equality and representation,” Ellis told the crowd at the April forum. “I will represent each of you equally, I will ensure that justice is provided, and I will ensure that your freedoms provided by the Constitution of the United States of America are upheld.”
Kevin Wadley’s career has included more than 18 years with the Statesboro Police Department, and six previous years with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. He has also been deputized by the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office since 2001. He attended Georgia Southern and attained Georgia peace officer certification at Armstrong State. A member of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Georgia Narcotics Officers' Association and the Peace Officers' Association of Georgia, he has logged more than 1,200 hours of law enforcement continuing education and training.
"I have worked hard in achieving personal goals within my career, which have given me the professional development needed to give our community the ability to live and grow in a safe and secure environment," Wadley said in an earlier interview. "I consider it a privilege to work with members of the Bulloch County courts system, the district attorney's office and all other members of our local law enforcement to insure that the citizens of Statesboro and Bulloch County can live and work in a community in which trust is the essential ingredient."
Marty Waters has campaigned on his 25 years of experience working for the public, including nine years as Statesboro High principal. He worked with the Sea Island Bank from 1991 to 1996 in customer service and as a purchasing officer before his 1998-2014 career with the Bulloch County school system.
Waters attained four academic degrees at Georgia Southern, beginning with a bachelor’s in business education and concluding with a doctorate in educational leadership.
“As a former high school principal, I have had experiences working in school law, resolving disciplinary matters, conflict resolution, guardianship issues and working with the Probate Court, employee training and evaluation for over 150 employees, strategic planning and budgeting,” he said at the forum. “But most importantly, my experiences have brought me into contact with people from almost every walk of life and all diverse backgrounds, and I’ve taken great pleasure in being able to work with those folks in resolving their problems or meeting their needs.”
Nonpartisan race
The judgeship is nonpartisan, and the nonpartisan general election ballot is also included with the Democratic and Republican primary ballots, so all voters can participate in both the primary and the runoff, if there is one.
Herald reporter Al Hackle may be reached at (912) 489-9458.