Roxie Thompson of Dade County, Ga.
Name: Roxie ThompsonAge: 54Marital status: Married 35 years; two adult sonsEducation: Associate's degree in criminal justice from Georgia Northwestern Technical CollegeWork experience: Seven years' experience as an investigator in Georgia Public Defender's Office, nine years as an investigator in the Dade County Sheriff's OfficeContact: 423-305-5554 or chooseroxie@gmail.com
Roxie Thompson, a Dade County, Ga., native with 16 years of experience in the judicial system, is running for the county's probate judge seat.
The election will be held July 31 to fill the seat left vacant by retiring Probate Judge Jan Ellison.
While campaigning, Thompson will continue in her eighth year at the Georgia Public Defender's Office, where she investigates criminal cases, conducts interviews and testifies as an expert witness for Dade, Walker, Catoosa and Chattooga counties.
Before that, she spent nine years as an investigator, a sergeant over an investigative unit and an interviewer with the Dade County Sheriff's Office.
Thompson said she has wanted the probate judge position for about eight years and that her experience would make her a "fair and objective" judge when it comes to dealing with traffic violations and DUIs.
"I've worked as a public defender and as a law enforcer, so I'll be able to see both sides," she said. "I won't lean toward the law enforcement, and I won't lean toward the public. I'll be fair."
If elected, Thompson said, she would want to make her office "a friendly, comfortable place" for people seeking anything, including the birth or death certificates, marriage and gun licenses that are issued by the probate judge office.
"We want to be able to talk to people about anything they need and make them feel welcomed," she said.
Thompson said she also would like to see a stronger online presence for Dade County's probate judge, so people could print out paperwork from home instead of picking it up at the office.
Along with her opponents, David Duvall and Kerri Carter, Thompson will fill out paperwork and pay her fees on May 28 to officially qualify to be on the ballot.
Contact staff writer Adam Poulisse at apoulisse@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6592.