Interview by Sarah Jones
Photography by Tim Johnson

Judge Tammy Stokes, recently appointed as Chief Judge of the Chatham County Recorder’s Court, found her way to law school and eventually back to Savannah unexpectedly. Sixteen years after returning to her hometown, she is the chief judge of what she describes as the face of the criminal justice system and is in court five days a week addressing traffic, misdemeanor and ordinance charges. Judge Stokes spends her time combating Chatham County’s issues—both on and off the bench—by doing her best to follow her own good advice: “Be yourself. Do your homework. And know that it’s not all about you.”

On how she became a judge: I was a psychology major and my plan was to become a clinical psychologist, but as part of volunteer work I did, I read to a blind law student. Technology wasn’t what it is today, so if you were a blind law student, you had to figure out, the best way you could, how to get all of that reading done. So I was a reader. And we became friends, and when I became friends with him, I became friends with his friends, and we’re all still friends today. I hung out with them. Instead of studying at the regular library, I studied at the law library, and would hear them talk about school. That old adage “association brings about assimilation,” well, I got interested in what they were doing and instead of planning on graduate school, I switched over to law school.

On how she decided to move back to Savannah from Atlanta: It was a culmination of little things and big things that just kind of all meet. For me, I just woke up one day and realized, I’m going to Savannah. It was on a Thursday—I called my family and told them I was coming home. And they thought, “Yay, she’s comin’ home to visit,” but I said, “No, I’m coming home to look for my office.” So by Friday morning I drove around downtown Savannah and I found my office—which was at 114 Jefferson Street—I had my furniture, I signed up for a bunch of stuff, all before noon. Took my momma to lunch and said, “See y’all in 30 days!” My friends thought I was crazy. My family thought “she’s movin’ too fast.”

On why she loves the law as her work: I always had an interest in the balance of the state versus the individual and what all that means and the growth of our system over the course of time. It’s a system that’s always continuing to grow.

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