To aid in addressing the scarcity of prosecutors and public defenders in Georgia communities without adequate access to legal services, the School of Law created the Georgia Honors Fellows Program with support from both public and private resources.

Criminal Defense Practicum Director Elizabeth Taxel (J.D.’09) (sitting in black) talks with students during a three-day training program for the Georgia Honors Fellows students working in rural public defender offices this past summer. Sean Maher (standing at easel), the director of defender development for Gideon’s Promise, helped lead the workshop.

The initiative has two parts. The first will provide stipends for up to 10 law students working during the summer months in prosecutor and public defender offices in rural Georgia, while the second will support several School of Law graduates in full-time, longer term positions in these offices.

Both cohorts will participate in intensive training programs organized by Melissa D. Redmon, director of the school’s Prosecutorial Justice Program and a former prosecutor, and Elizabeth Taxel (J.D.’09), director of the school’s Criminal Defense Practicum and a former public defender, before starting in their positions.

“The Honors Fellows Program is a crucial step in addressing the critical shortage of public servants in our rural communities,” Redmon said. “By directly supporting the prosecution offices in these areas, the local justice system is strengthened, and law students have an invaluable opportunity to gain both hands-on practical experience and a deep understanding of the unique challenges rural prosecutors face.” 

Taxel said the shortage of public defenders in Georgia’s rural and underserved legal areas has a profound impact on these communities and on the integrity of the legal system. “It’s an honor to support law students and young lawyers committed to making constitutional rights a reality in every corner of our state.”

This past summer, nine rising second- and third-year students worked in judicial circuits across the Peach State, including the Atlantic, Brunswick, Cordele, Coweta, Dublin, Enotah, Middle, Northern, Ocmulgee and Toombs circuits.

Recent graduate Hannah M. Silvers (J.D.’24) said the Georgia Honors Fellows Program “opened the door” for her dream job in the Tifton Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office. She said the School of Law made it possible by giving her the tools she needed to help build her network and participate in internships.

Crediting the Georgia Honors Fellows Program, Silvers said, “I will now have a lasting career that will allow me to give back to my local communities who have given so much to me.”