Newton County District Attorney's Office Promotes Bailey Wilkinson to Deputy Chief ADA

Recently, District Attorney Randy McGinley named Bailey Wilkinson the Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney in the Newton County Office. Bailey has been with the DA's Office since Spring of 2016 when she started as an ADA handling the criminal cases assigned to Judge Ozburn. Just two years later, in 2018 she was honored as the ADA of the year in the Newton County Office. After a number of years in Judge Ozburn's courtroom, she was moved into now Chief Judge Wynne's courtroom.

In her years with our office, Bailey has handled murders, rapes, child molestations, armed robberies and other serious or complicated cases. She has also handled numerous appeals and argued at the Supreme Court. Bailey has worked closely with law enforcement, including training officers and deputies on courtroom demeanor and testifying. She does an amazing job preparing cases for trial and working with victims.

Bailey is dedicated to doing the right thing on every case and in fighting for victims of crimes. One great example that I will never forget: after a rape trial that Bailey handled, a number of jurors stayed to talk to the attorneys. A number of jurors said that if they were ever the victim of something horrible, they "would want Bailey to the the prosecutor on the case."

As Deputy Chief ADA, Bailey will not be assigned to a specific courtroom, but will handle serious and complicated cases. She will also continue to train law enforcement and ADAs as well as assisting in office administration duties. Please join me in congratulating Bailey Wilkinson. - DA Randy McGinley

District Attorney's Offices Wear Blue to Raise Awareness for Child Abuse Prevention

Both the Newton and Walton County District Attorney's Offices recently wore blue for Nation Child Abuse Prevention Month. There is a National push each April to raise awareness for the prevention of child abuse. Sadly, our offices often deal with child abuse after it occurs. But we, of course, can hope that future child abuse is prevented.

National Child Abuse Prevention Month recognizes the importance of families and communities working together to prevent child abuse and neglect. Prevention services and supports developed by this collaboration can help to protect children and strengthen families. If you want to learn more, please visit our offices' website at https://www.alcovydaoffice.org/victim-services or visit https://preventchildabuse.org/buildingtogether2023/. - DA Randy McGinley

Alcovy Circuit Accountability Courts lead to less repeat offenses

Recently, the Georgia Council of Accountability Court Judges issue a Recidivism Analysis Report for accountability courts across the State. For the Alcovy Circuit, we received the reports for the Newton County Felony Drug Court (which allows Walton County residents), the Newton County Resource Court, and Walton County Resource Court. These reports were issued earlier this year and show the data for the five year period of 2016 through 2021.

According to District Attorney Randy McGinley, "These reports show that individuals that successfully complete these programs are very likely to not commit further crimes, but instead be great members of our community and great family members. As you can see, each the average participant has a criminal history of multiple arrests including multiple arrests for violations of probation."

"Those that complete our Drug or Resource Court programs are extremely less likely to be rearrested for a new offense in the 24 and 36 months that follow their graduation than those that are terminated from the program. Of note, the percentage of graduates from these programs that have a new arrest within 24 months of their completion is only 8% for Drug Court, 5% for Walton County Resource Court, and 0% for Newton County Resource Court. Compare that to 53%, 50%, and 55% respectively for those Courts for individuals that were terminated from the program."

"I want to highlight the hard work and dedication of the prosecutors that have been a part of these Courts. Chief Assistant District Attorney Amber Dally (pictured on the right) has handled Drug Court responsibilities for years, while Deputy Chief Assistant Jillian Hall (pictured on the left) has handled Resource Court in both Counties. They both have a large caseload of other cases, including murders and other serious felonies, but they also spend countless hours every week working with these Accountability Courts."

Our Drug Court "is designed to coordinate substance abuse intervention with judicial support through an immediate sanctions and incentives process." The primary goal of the Court is "to reduce recidivism through substance abuse intervention with immediate judicial review that supports addressing the offender's substance abuse problem"

Our Resource Courts are designed to "address the needs of individuals diagnosed with a severe and persistent mental illness who have committed criminal act(s)…. The Resource Court provides treatment to court participants in conjunction with community supervision by the Sheriff's Department and Probation Officers and drug testing to address the underlying causes of criminal activity and recidivism."

Newton County Adult Felony Drug Court

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Newton and Walton County Mental Health Court - Walton County

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Newton and Walton County Mental Health Court - Newton County

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