Morris to serve another term as public defender

CALLAWAY GARDENS - H. Bradford "Brad" Morris was sworn in Friday at Callaway Gardens for another four-year term as the Circuit Public Defender for the Northeastern Judicial Circuit, which encompasses Hall and Dawson counties.

Morris, who has been in charge of the Office of the Public Defender for the Northeastern Judicial Circuit since its inception in 2004, was unanimously recommended for reappointment by a three-person Supervisory Committee. He is responsible for an office of 14 attorneys and 10 support staff who represent indigent criminal defendants in the two-county circuit.

Morris was recommended for reappointment by a supervisory committee comprised of local attorneys Douglas Stewart, Tom Cole, and Graham McKinnon. The committee members are appointed by the Superior Court judges of the circuit, the chairmen of the Hall and Dawson County Commissions, and Gov. Nathan Deal, respectively.

W. Travis Sakrison, Executive Director of the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council, reappointed Morris to the post on the recommendation of the local advisory committee.

Morris was sworn in with other Circuit Public Defenders from throughout the state by John Ellington, Chief Judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals, during the Circuit Public Defenders' meeting at Callaway Gardens.

Morris is a graduate of Emory University and the University of Houston School of Law and has practiced criminal law for more than 35 years. He lives in Gainesville with his wife, Renee. They have three children, Texys, Bradford, and William.

Morris was the 2008 recipient of the Judge A.R. Kenyon Award from the Gainesville-Northeastern Circuit Bar Association and was also honored by the University of Georgia School of Law Equal Justice Foundation with its Practitioner's Award for Outstanding Commitment to Public Interest Law for 2009-2010. In 2011, he received the Indigent Defense Award from the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers for his lifetime commitment to the representation of indigent criminal defendants.