Judge Ralph Hill

LaFAYETTE, Ga. — When Judge Ralph Hill hears guilty pleas, everyone in the courtroom knows they’re in for a long day.

“He takes longer than any other judge because he talks to the defendants,” said Dorothy Holliday, Judge Hill’s law clerk. “He wants to know who they have around them, their level of education ... things move a lot slower.”

After all, affecting lives is why he sought in the first place to be a Superior Court judge in the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit, Judge Hill said. After all he’s been there before — facing “evil” and searching for a way to a better life.

“In 1987, I became a Christian, and I really tried seeking to take my faith in the legal profession,” he said. “As judge, I have a greater impact on a larger number of lives by the decisions I make.”

But after almost 13 years on the bench, Judge Hill, 65, said he is stepping down to affect lives in other ways, possibly through mission work or teaching law. He will retire at the end of his third four-year term. This leaves his position open in the Nov. 4 election instead of having a replacement be appointed by a governor, which is how he became a judge.

“I just felt like it would be better for the people to choose a judge as my replacement,” he said.

Ralph Hill, B.C.

Judge Hill was a fixture in the Walker County law community long before he took on a mission in serving as a judge.

After graduating from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1968, he served in the Army for two years and helped prosecute cases against U.S. soldiers who were charged with mass murder in Vietnam.

“That’s when I became aware there is a real evil out there, and the object of the law is to restrain that evil, so we have a decent, orderly society,” he said.

In 1973, he started practicing in LaFayette, serving as an assistant district attorney and later as a private defense attorney. He was known as a tough litigator with an excellent knowledge of the law, colleagues said.

Chief Public Defender David Dunn said he remembers Judge Hill teaching him some formative lessons back when Mr. Dunn was a young assistant prosecutor arguing against the experienced defense attorney.

In one criminal case, Mr. Dunn said Judge Hill didn’t have much of a defense to work with, so he started attacking Mr. Dunn’s professional and personal integrity because, as Mr. Dunn sees now, Judge Hill had to “argue anything.” Mr. Dunn said, at the time, he took offense and confronted Judge Hill outside the courtroom.

“He gave me the patented Ralph Hill grin, and said ... ‘You’ve got to grow that thick skin, boy,” Mr. Dunn said.

Walker County District Attorney Herbert “Buzz” Franklin worked on cases against, with and before Judge Hill since 1981. He said now Judge Hill often refers to himself and his actions before 1987 as “Ralph Hill, before Christ.”

“I knew both Ralph Hill, B.C., and Ralph Hill after Christ,” Mr. Franklin said. “He always was a very good lawyer. He’s still a very good lawyer. He just has a very different outlook in things.”

Turning point

In 1987, Judge Hill was an alcoholic. He believes it began almost 20 years before during his Army days, followed by the hard hours put into practicing law.

“It’s part of the professional hazard. When we’re working hard, we find some sort of relief and comfort,” Judge Hill said. “It’s what leads to addictions — until we find something that satisfies our hearts.”

In sorting through his recently deceased mother’s belongings that year, he found a Gideons International copy of the Bible. From then on, he said, he approached the world and his work with a “biblical world view.”

Stepping up to the bench

Judge Hill was appointed by Gov. Zell Miller in February 1995 as one of the circuit’s four Superior Court judges, replacing Judge Joseph Loggins.

In the four-county judicial circuit, he presides over cases that range from murders to traffic violations to custody disputes. He said he’s accomplished the most in helping people find rehabilitation programs, including a parenting program for divorcing couples who have children, and Teen Challenge, a faith-based program to help young drug addicts break free.

“In the judicial system, unfortunately, you see a lot of failure,” he said. “But you have some successes, and one life changed is certainly worth the effort.”

Judge Hill noted that “not everyone is a candidate for these programs.”

But, “Our experiences help us be better judges,” he said, and he has an insight into the drug addicts before him.

Fellow Superior Court Judge Kristina Cook Connelly, who is running for re-election in November, said she respects Judge Hill because he is “very fair” in applying the law.

“His strong faith has a great impact on his work, but the way his faith impacts his work is in his great deal of caring with people he comes in contact with,” she said.

Judge Hill said he has a responsibility to maintain a “separation of church and state” in the court, but he’s planning more time for evangelistic mission work, which has already taken him to Brazil and Russia.

Retirement at the end of a term is unusual. Most retire in mid-term and allow the governor to appoint a replacement.

This will probably be the first election with an open field for a judge in the Lookout Mountain circuit in three decades, Mr. Dunn said.

Ringgold attorney Larry Stagg has already publicly announced his candidacy.

“No matter who takes the position, (Judge Hill) will be missed,” Mr. Stagg said. “He’s a very well respected, very moral man.”

Judge Hill said he’s waiting until after candidate qualifying, which is the week of June 23, to see if he has a favorite in the field.

“A lot of people rattle their sabers until it comes time to pay qualifying fees,” he said.