On Wednesday, April 30, 2025, the Judicial Qualifications Commission of Georgia issued a second order regarding the upcoming hearing on formal charges against Judge Shermela J. Williams. This order follows an initial order issued on April 15, 2025, which set the stage for the proceedings scheduled to begin on May 21, 2025. At that time, the courtroom had not yet been confirmed.
The case is entitled “In the Matter of Judge Shermela William,” with case numbers S2421139 and S2520722.
The formal charges against Judge Williams arise from multiple complaints detailing alleged misconduct during her time on the Fulton County Superior Court bench. The cases are officially registered under Supreme Court Docket Nos. S24Z1139 and S2520722, with associated Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) complaint numbers spanning several years, including complaints filed in 2022 and 2023.
The hearing will take place over multiple days: May 21, 22, 23, and June 26 and 27, 2025, each session commencing at 9:00 a.m. The location for the hearings is designated as the Georgia State-wide Business Court courtroom at the Nathan Deal Judicial Center, located at 330 Capitol Avenue, SE, Atlanta, Georgia. These proceedings will be open to the public, with plans for live streaming through the Judicial Center’s broadcast system, details of which will be shared later.
The formal charges against Judge Williams comprise a total of 15 new counts, which add to previous allegations that have raised serious concerns about her conduct as a judge. Specific accusations include the unlawful detention of a 22-year-old woman during divorce proceedings involving the woman’s parents. This detention is described as punitive and executed without legal justification during court proceedings.
Additional allegations against Judge Williams include claims of delaying rulings in various cases and improperly intervening in her uncle’s contempt proceedings by contacting an attorney to request a delay. The Judicial Qualifications Commission has indicated that there is reasonable cause to believe Judge Williams has engaged in misconduct while serving on the bench.
The recent charges follow an earlier set of 17 allegations filed against her in June 2024. Those earlier accusations included claims of favoritism towards a sorority sister in a child custody matter, as well as mishandling other legal issues.
Courtney Veal, the Director of the Judicial Qualifications Commission, has urged for further proceedings to assess whether Judge Williams has violated the Georgia Code of Judicial Conduct during her four years in office. The complexity and interconnected nature of the allegations have led both parties to request that the current complaint docket numbers be heard concurrently.
In response to the situation, Judge Williams’s attorney, Gabe Banks, has characterized the recent charges as not entirely new and has raised questions about the timing of the commission’s actions. He argued that the delay in filing these allegations suggests ulterior motives behind the commission’s decisions. Banks asserted that Judge Williams has consistently sought to address these matters since the inquiry began in 2022, and he contended that the commission’s actions appear aimed at removing her from the bench unjustly.
The upcoming hearings are poised to significantly impact Judge Shermela J. Williams’s judicial career and reputation, as the Judicial Qualifications Commission continues to address the serious claims raised against her.
A copy of the original filing can be found here.
