Last week, Judge Beverly Johns of the Coffee County Probate Court was recognized as one of 28 probate judges across the state of Georgia who recently completed the Georgia Probate Court Judges’ Certificate Program.
The Georgia Probate Court Judges’ Certificate Program was an original creation of the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government and the Probate Court Judges Training Council.
The primary objective of the Georgia Probate Court Judges’ Certificate Program is to provide a rigorous, multi-year curriculum of specialized training for every probate court judge and associate probate judge in Georgia. The program is mandatory, and it is possible to complete the program within a four-year term of office.
Judge Tammy Brown of the Barrow County Probate Court, who currently serves as the president of the Constitutional Officers Association of Georgia and served as the president of the Council of Probate Court Judges of Georgia when the certificate program was created, highlighted the importance of the program.
“When we created the program, the original idea was to provide for specialized training for each judge. We felt it was important to do so because probate court is a very unique class of court and regardless of the prior experience and education that a judge has prior to taking office, we wanted every judge to receive training that is tailored specifically for what is needed to successfully serve as a probate judge.”
The Georgia Probate Court Judges’ Certificate Program is currently facilitated by the Institute of Continuing Judicial Education (ICJE). ICJE provides basic training and continuing education for every judge in the state of Georgia and other court personnel.