(Lawrenceville, Ga., Nov. 10, 2011) - The Honorable Dawson Jackson has announced that he will not seek re-election in 2012. Judge Jackson began his career in Gwinnett County as an assistant district attorney in 1973. After serving as an assistant and Chief Assistant District Attorney for six years, he was appointed at the age of 31 by Governor George Busbee to be judge of Gwinnett State Court in 1979. Governor Busbee later appointed Judge Jackson as judge of Gwinnett Superior Court where he has been presiding since December 1982. With almost 29 years of service in Superior Court, Judge Jackson is the longest-serving Superior Court judge in the history of Gwinnett County, serving as Chief Judge since 1999. 

During these years, Judge Jackson has served in many capacities such as: Administrative Judge of the Ninth Judicial District, member of the Executive Committee of the Council of Superior Court Judges, Judicial Council of Georgia, Council of Superior Court Judges Finance Committee, Probation Parole Committee, State Advisory Council on Probation, Sentence Review Panel, Uniform Rules Committee, Indigent Defense Committee, Emory University Law School Trial Techniques Program, Georgia State Bar Intrastate Moot Court Competition judge, State Bar program presenter on Professionalism, State Bar High School Mock Trial Competition judge, chairman of the Gwinnett Law Library Board, Child Abuse and Sexual Assault Protocol Committees, Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee, and Gwinnett County Student Attendance Protocol Committee.                                                                                        

Judge Jackson, admitted to the Georgia Bar in 1972, is a graduate of Emory University and Emory University School of Law. He was a captain in the U.S. Army. He has been a member of the Gwinnett Rotary Club and is a graduate of Leadership Gwinnett. He is  a member of the State Bar of Georgia, Gwinnett County Bar Association, Old War Horse Lawyers Club and Lawyers Club of Atlanta.