Newton County Juvenile Court Judge Sheri Capes Roberts will be retiring, effective May 1, 2020.
A Newton County native, Judge Roberts completed both a Bachelor and Master of Business Administration at the University of Georgia. She went on to work in banking regulatory compliance in Washington, D.C. and Birmingham, Alabama, before returning to law school and obtaining her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Georgia. She was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia in 1993.
Upon graduation, Judge Roberts returned to Covington and opened a private practice. She served as a Special Appointed Attorney General (SAAG) representing the Department of Family & Children Services in Newton, Jasper and Putnam counties on deprivation matters. She is a former member of the boards of the Covington YMCA, Red Cross, and Project ReNewal, a past Chair of the Covington-Newton Chamber of Commerce and past President of the Newton County Bar Association.
Judge Roberts was initially appointed to the Juvenile Court bench in 2009, the Alcovy Circuit’s first female jurist. During her tenure, she established a Family Treatment Court accountability court, along with a supporting non-profit entity, the SHIFT Foundation, to further assist families the Court was serving. Through support from county sales tax funds, a Community Resource Center was constructed and opened in 2018 from which additional cutting edge interventions could be employed for the children and families served by the Court.
Judge Roberts earned numerous honors and appointments from her service including a MacArthur Foundation Champion For Change Award and an appointment to the Board of Directors of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. Under her leadership, the Court was named a selected court site (one of four nationally) for a juvenile justice reform initiative sponsored by Robert F. Kennedy Children Action Corps, and the Court was a selected as a Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative site, an initiative of the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
Judge Roberts’ energy, creativity and dedication in meeting the needs of the children and families of Newton County are unmatched and her years of service are greatly appreciated.
