For Immediate Release

Monday, August 11, 2008
Benjamin S. Richardson Named 2008 Solicitor-General of the Year  

Benjamin S. Richardson, solicitor-general for Muscogee County, has been selected as the 2008 Solicitor-General of the Year by the Georgia Association of Solicitors-General. The announcement was made on Sunday, July 27, 2008 at the 48 th Annual Summer Conference held at the Jekyll Island Convention Center on Jekyll Island, Georgia, and sponsored by the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia.

“A solicitor-general should be fair, impartial, and objective with a sense of humanity,” said Richardson. “He or she should also be able to multi-task with the built-in flexibility to be able to shift from courtroom prosecutor to administrative head to community participant as situations dictate.”

During the opening session of the conference, four outstanding members of the prosecutorial community were recognized. Richardson was named Solicitor-General of the Year. Amy Radley, Chief Assistant Solicitor-General of Forsyth County was honored as the 2008 Assistant Solicitor-General of the Year. The District Attorneys’ Association of Georgia recognized Spencer Lawton, Jr. of the Eastern Judicial Circuit as District Attorney of the Year and Allison Mauldin, assistant district attorney for the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit, was named the 2008 Assistant District Attorney of the Year.

Richardson serves as vice-chairman of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council and is the president of the Georgia Association of Solicitor’s General. Suzanne Goddard, chief assistant solicitor-general for Muscogee County, nominated Richardson for the award.

“I have known and worked with Ben for ten and a half years. During this time, I have observed the highest level of professionalism, intelligence and competence regarding his job performance,” wrote Goddard in her nomination letter. “He is genuinely concerned with being fair and impartial with each case, ensuring that justice prevails for the victim, as well as the defendant.”

“ Richardson is a natural leader who works hard to succeed not only for himself, but for the community,” wrote Goddard. “In his job as solicitor-general, he is the chief prosecutor of misdemeanor offenses for State Court and a jack-of-all-trades. His daily motto in the office is “Steady the ship”, which gives our staff an overall confidence to handle any problem, situation or issue that may arise. Ben strongly believes in a team effort and that we, as an office, are in this together. As Ben’s chief assistant, I can always count on him to provide guidance and support for any situation that may arise. He brings a wealth of experience to our office.”

Originally from Atlanta, Richardson lives in Columbus , Georgia where he serves Muscogee County. Richardson says he has wanted to be a prosecutor since childhood.

“Watching television shows about crime when I was a child planted a seed early that I knew I wanted to help people who were victimized by the bad guys,” says Richardson. “However, it was during my tenure in the prosecutorial clinic program in law school, under the tutelage of Debra Wilbanks, that my desire to become a prosecutor was solidified.”

“Despite the image of prosecutors as being cold, uncompassionate individuals, I always tell people that I am a prosecutor, not a persecutor,” says Richardson. “My job is to be fair, impartial, and objective with each individual case, and not to have an ‘assembly line’ approach to justice. The objective of a prosecutor is not to win a case at any cost, but to realize that we are justice seekers and our worth is not based upon a personal win or loss record, but by doing an honorable job to best of our individual ability.”

“There are some days when it seems our efforts are fruitless in terms of the sheer magnitude of our caseloads,” continued Richardson, “however, it is rewarding to be in a public place and receive a ‘thank you’ from a victim, witness or law enforcement agent for doing a good job and for helping them achieve some form of justice through their case. It is especially meaningful to receive that type of support in front of my family. It helps them see that the job I do is important to the community.”

Richardson received his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Howard University in 1989 and a Juris Doctorate from the University Of Georgia School Of Law in 1992. He was elected solicitor-general of Muscogee County in January of 2003. Prior to his election, he served as chief assistant solicitor-general and assistant solicitor-general in the Muscogee County solicitor-general’s office. Early in his career, he also served as an associate attorney.

Richardson’s commitment to the community is not just confined to the courtroom. “Ben strongly believes in mentoring to our youth and encourages them to take advantage of their opportunities and to make good choices. He was even honored for his volunteerism with youth in 2004 when he was included in the Historical Black Men & Women of Columbus calendar,” wrote Goddard. “His reputation for dealing fairly with youth offenders is well-known in the community. He believes that if we start educating young people at an early age, then we will not see them later in court.”

Richardson frequently teaches courses for prosecutors and law enforcement. In 2003, he was presented with the J. Roger Thompson Award, given each year to a n outstanding faculty member participating in the Basic Litigation Course for new prosecutors, which is sponsored by the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia. Additionally, he teaches in-service training for the Columbus Police Department, the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Department, and the Columbus State University Law Enforcement Command College.

Other recognitions for Richardson include being named the Human Resources Humanitarian of the Year in 1998 by the Columbus Consolidated Government, and in 2004, he was awarded Order of Saint Maurice, one of the highest military honors for civilians, for his work in the Columbus and Fort Benning communities. Also in 2004, he was named to Georgia Trend magazine’s Forty Under Forty list of rising leaders in the State and was selected as the Grand Marshall of the Tuskegee/Morehouse parade. In 2005, in honor of Black History Month, Richardson received the History Maker of the Year Award by the Columbus Times newspaper.

Richardson has brought his innovation into the office by creating a major case review team and major sentence review team, which consists of various personnel providing different perspectives on a case that may have significant consequences on the community. He also led the development of his office website and saw that the domestic violence literature was translated in Spanish.

Richardson is a graduate of the Leadership Georgia and Leadership Columbus programs. He also serves on the boards
of the Columbus Symphony, the American Red Cross, The Family Center, Fourth Street Tours , Columbus Medical Regional Foundation and Columbus Technical College.

“I would like to thank God for the opportunity to serve,” said Richardson. “I also know I could not have made it without my family, including my wife, Valerie; my mother, Nancy McClinton, who raised me in a single parent household, but did the job of both mother and father; my grandparents, Mrs. Rosetta Richardson-Bryant and the late John Davis Jr.; my aunt, Helen who is a second mother to me; and my other aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, colleagues, and peers.”

“I would also like to say ‘thank you’ to Judge Maureen Gottfried for giving me the opportunity to be a prosecutor by hiring me,” said Richardson. “I would like to thank my Chief Judge Andy Prather for giving me support and autonomy through the years. I thank Superior Court Judge John Allen for his guidance and support through the years. I also thank Mrs. Vivian Creighton-Bishop for her mentorship, guidance and support. Finally, a very special ‘thank you’ goes to my staff, especially my ‘right hand’ Suzanne Goddard for her outstanding work as chief assistant solicitor-general.”

Richardson is married to Valerie E. Richardson and they have one son, Justin. He is the son of Nancy D. McClinton and stepfather Rev. Eugene McClinton and the late Benjamin F. Richardson.