Thoughts from the Supreme Court
Chief Justice P. Harris Hines was appointed to the Supreme Court of Georgia on July 26, 1995, by Governor Zell Miller to succeed Willis B. Hunt, Jr., former Chief Justice. He was sworn in by Governor Nathan Deal on January 6, 2017. Prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court, he served as a Superior Court judge in the Cobb Judicial Circuit and a State Court judge for Cobb County.
An Atlanta native, Hines graduated from Henry W. Grady High School, and received his bachelor's and J.D. degrees from Emory University. He was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia and is a member of the American Bar Association and the Cobb Judicial Circuit Bar Association. He is also Second Vice President of the Old War Horse Lawyers Club, an Emeritus Master of the Joseph Henry Lumpkin Inn of Court, which is associated with the University of Georgia School of Law, a member of the Board of Visitors of the University of Georgia School of Law, and a fellow of the Lawyers Foundation of Georgia. He is a graduate of the National Judicial College.
After graduation from law school, Hines clerked for Judge E. A. Wright, Senior Judge of the Civil Court of Fulton County, for one year. He then joined the firm of Edwards, Bentley, Awtrey & Parker of Marietta, Georgia as an associate and later became a partner. Hines was appointed to the State Court of Cobb County by Governor Jimmy Carter and was later elected to the Superior Court of the Cobb Judicial Circuit. He serves as Chair of the Supreme Court’s Justice for Children Committee. He is the Court’s liaison to the Institute of Continuing Judicial Education, the General Assembly, and the Office of Bar Admissions. He is Vice Chair of the Judicial Council and Chair of its Policy and Legislative Committee. He was appointed in 2015 as a member of the Judicial, District Attorney, and Circuit Public Defender Compensation Commission.
Hines is a former Trustee of the Kennesaw State University Foundation, a member and Past Distinguished President of the Kiwanis Club of Marietta and a Past Distinguished Lt. Governor of the Georgia District of Kiwanis International. He served on the inaugural Board of Directors of the Cobb-Marietta Girls Club and is a Past President of the Cobb County Y.M.C.A. He has participated in the Leadership Georgia and Leadership Atlanta programs and was selected as Cobb County's Most Admired Community Leader for 1993. Chief Justice Hines is an elder in the First Presbyterian Church of Marietta and has served as Clerk of Session. He is an Eagle Scout. He and his wife Helen reside in Marietta and have two children.