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District Attorney Richard Mallard will not Seek Re-Election

Richard Mallard has served as District Attorney for the Ogeechee Circuit for the last 18 years. Mallard was first appointed in August of 2002 by Governor Roy Barnes and was later elected in a special election in November of 2002.
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Richard Mallard has served as District Attorney for the Ogeechee Circuit for the last 18 years. Mallard was first appointed in August of 2002 by Governor Roy Barnes and was later elected in a special election in November of 2002. Mallard served one special term, and is currently in his fourth full term as District Attorney. Prior to being elected District Attorney in 2002, Mallard served as Chief Assistant District Attorney for 11 years under R.J. Martin III, who served as District Attorney prior to Mallard. Prior to joining the Ogeechee Circuit’s District Attorney Office, Mallard worked as a prosecutor in the Cobb County Solicitor’s Office and the Eastern Circuit District Attorney’s Office in Chatham County. Mallard’s current term expires December 31, 2020 and he intends to retire after 33 years in public service.

Since Mallard joined the District Attorney’s Office in 1991, the office has grown from two to eleven lawyers and now includes a staff of fifteen, including four investigators. The Ogeechee Circuit covers a four county circuit that includes Bulloch, Effingham, Jenkins and Screven Counties and is responsible for prosecuting felony cases in those counties as well as being responsible for asset forfeitures in those counties.

Richard Mallard is a member of the Georgia District Attorneys Association and the National District Attorneys Association and has served as a trial advocacy instructor for the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia for the Council’s basic litigation course which is a 40 hour course for new prosecutors.

Mallard’s Chief Assistant District Attorney, Daphne Jarriel Totten, has announced her candidacy for District Attorney and says that she intends to qualify on March 2, 2020 and succeed Mallard. Totten became Chief Assistant District Attorney for the Ogeechee Circuit when she was appointed by Mallard after the former Chief Assistant District Attorney Michael Muldrew was elected to serve as a Superior Court Judge for the Ogeechee Circuit in 2016.

Mallard has stated that Totten has his full support. “Daphne has served as an Assistant District Attorney for the last 17 years since joining the office in 2003 and has prosecuted some of the most important cases the office has handled. She currently has more experience than I had when I first ran in 2002 and she has prosecuted every type of case that our office handles. She is not only a great trial attorney, but possesses the leadership skills necessary to lead our office. I believe Daphne is uniquely qualified to become the next district attorney”.

Mallard says he looks forward to retirement and it has been an honor to serve the people of the Ogeechee Judicial Circuit for the last 29 years.