RINGGOLD, Ga. – In the seesaw for power in Northwest Georgia’s courts, Judge Kristina Cook Graham is back on top.
Grant Brantley, who was brought in to litigate a dispute between Graham and Judge Ralph Van Pelt Jr., ruled Monday morning that Graham has power over Van Pelt. This comes after Graham was appointed to be the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit’s chief judge on Oct. 1.
It also comes after Van Pelt and Judge Brian House voted on Oct. 3 to strip Graham of her power. They said there should be a vote among the three judges, and they picked Van Pelt to take the chief judge position. Graham never signed an order that would have recognized Van Pelt as her superior.
“I don’t think Judge Van Pelt is holding the job in accordance with the law,” Brantley, a judge from Cobb County, announced Monday morning.
Said Graham: “Now we have a judicial resolution on the issue. It’s time for the four judges to move forward for the sake of the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit.”