New Superior Court Judge Takes the Bench in Clarke County

Superior Court Judge , appointed by Gov. Nathan Deal to replace new federal judge , is spending what he considers his first official day on the bench Tuesday.

The Athens Banner-Herald reports that Haggard, who was sworn in three weeks ago to the judgeship overseeing Clarke and Oconee Counties, dipped a toe into the job last month by observing Western Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Lawton Stephens preside over an Athens murder trial.

"Nothing really surprised me," Haggard told the newspaper, "but I learned things that were new, things that aren't in the law books."