Ken Hodges

Kenneth (Ken) B. Hodges III is the former District Attorney for Dougherty County, Georgia in the United States and current candidate for Attorney General of Georgia.

Hodges was born and raised in Albany, Georgia and went on to receive his bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and Sociology from Emory University in 1988 and his law degree from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1991. His wife, Melissa, grew up in Gwinnett County and graduated from The Marist School in Atlanta. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana and worked as a television news anchor and reporter. The couple was married in 2004 and currently live in Atlanta with their daughter.

After graduating from law school at the University of Georgia, Hodges worked at an Atlanta law firm before returning to his hometown of Albany, Georgia, in 1996 to run a successful campaign for District Attorney.^[1] Hodges served as District Attorney for 12 years, gaining re-election in 2000 and 2004.^[2][3]

During his career as attorney and District Attorney for Dougherty County, Hodges has argued in front of the Georgia Court of Appeals and the Georgia Supreme Court.^{[citation needed]} Hodges was instrumental in the 2002 prosecution of Sidney Dorsey, a former DeKalb County Sheriff who ordered the assassination of his successor, Derwin Brown.^[4][5] Ultimately, Dorsey was found guilty on eleven counts, including murder and racketeering.^[6]

Ken Hodges also served as President of the Georgia District Attorney’s Association and in 2002 was recognized as Georgia’s District Attorney of the Year.^{[citation needed]} He has also chaired the Prosecuting Attorney’s Council (PAC), and is a Fellow of the Lawyer’s Foundation of Georgia.^{[citation needed]}

He is a graduate of Leadership Albany and Leadership Georgia, and was on the Board of Trustees for Leadership Georgia. He has been listed on Georgia Trend Magazine’s “40 under 40”^{[citation needed]} and the Fulton County Daily Report’s “Attorneys on the Rise.”^{[citation needed]}

In August of 2009, Candidate Hodges received the endorsement of Andrew Young, former Mayor of Atlanta and United States Ambassador to the United Nations under President Jimmy Carter. Young praised Hodges for “his commitment to equal rights and the fair application of justice during his years of service in Albany.”^[7]

Hodges has also received the endorsements of former Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears, the first African-American female Chief Justice in the United States,^[8] and Sam Nunn, former United States senator from Georgia.^[9]

On Dec. 10, 2003 an unarmed man was shot and killed in the southbound lane of I-185 in Columbus by a Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office deputy. The 39-year-old victim was shot twice in the head with a 9mm MP5 submachine gun. Dougherty County D.A. Ken Hodges was appointed to handle the case by Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker.

Kenneth Brian Walker was a middle-class African American man who was employed at Blue Cross at the time of the shooting. It was determined that the vehicle Walker was riding in fit the description that police had of some armed gang members. The police made the traffic stop, ordered all four passengers to the ground, but opened fire when the deputy could not see one of Walker's hands. On Nov. 23, 2004 a Muscogee County grand jury failed to return an indictment.

It was reported that Hodges allowed the shooter, a former deputy at the time of grand jury, to testify at grand jury without swearing him in as a witness or placing him under oath, which would make his testimony invalid. Hodges did not make the recommendation that the grand jury return a True Bill so the matter would go forward to trial before a judge and a jury.

Civil rights groups and citizens from the African-American community appealed to Hodges to bring a second grand jury. Attorney General Baker left the decision up to Hodges and a second grand jury was never convened. Hodges admitted to the family he had made a mistake by not swearing in the former deputy. Hodges promised that he would bring a second grand jury, then later stated that he would only bring a second grand jury if there was new evidence to present.

The requirement for “new evidence” to convene a second grand jury is not supported by Georgia law, therefore Georgia Senate Bill 313 pertaining to unsworn grand jury testimony this year passed the Georgia Senate 53-0 and the Georgia House of Representatives 150-0. It has been reported that it will be signed into law by Gov. Sonny Perdue.