Cassandra Kirk is a Fulton County chief magistrate judge appointed by former Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal during his term in office. Following her judicial appointment, Kirk received more than 70 percent of the vote in the general election making her the first ever elected chief magistrate judge of Fulton County. The accomplished jurist is credited with creating Fulton County’s first independent constitutional court while working to engage the Black community in the judicial process.
In her 25 years of legal experience, Kirk has served as a prosecutor, defense attorney, administrative director, and civil litigator. And as rolling out’s 2020 Judge of the Year, Judge Kirk shared her plans and process for empowering the Black community and establishing judicial reforms.
Tell us about your history and your role as chief magistrate judge.
In 2018, I was elected by the people of Fulton County to serve in this role. We are a court that has civil as well as criminal jurisdiction. We host 80,000 cases annually, which means we see about 200,000 people that come to the court. Obviously, COVID has changed our numbers just a bit, but we have continued to work efficiently using technology. Our court’s mission is to inform, engage and empower our community and part of my curiosity has allowed us to do that. If I come into the court, what is it I’d like to see? I’d like to see that there are pamphlets, videos, and things that will help me as a user of that court such as resources [regarding how to] actually use the court.
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