Governor Kay Ivey on Friday announced the appointment of Deborah Tillman as Mobile County District Judge.
The appointment is to fill the seat left open by the resignation of former Judge Spiro Cheriogotis. He resigned to run for mayor of Mobile in the August 26 municipal election. Alabama has a “resign to run” law that requires a judge to resign to run for office, other than for another judgeship.
“Deborah Tillman possesses a tremendous background in the law spanning 35 years, beginning with her service as a Staff Judge Advocate in the United States Air Force to subsequent decades of experience in the Mobile County District Attorney’s office,” said Ivey. “As a former state, federal and military prosecutor, her legal knowledge will serve the Court and the people of Mobile County well.”
“I am extremely honored, humbled and grateful to Governor Ivey for appointing me to be the next District Court Judge in Mobile County,” Tillman stated. “While my role will change in the courtroom, my commitment to the rule of law and to serve the great people of Mobile County with honor and integrity will not. I look forward to joining the distinguished group of Judges who comprise the 13th Judicial Circuit of Mobile County.”
Tillman began her legal career in the U.S. Air Force, rising to the rank of Captain. She was honorably discharged in 1995. Afterward, she worked for two decades as assistant district attorney and chief assistant district attorney for the Mobile County District Attorney’s office.
She later worked as an assistant U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Florida.
Over her career, she prosecuted thousands of felony and misdemeanor cases in state and federal courts. Additionally, she taught criminal law, contracts and civil procedure as an adjunct professor in the paralegal studies division at the University of South Alabama.
A Mobile native, Tillman is a 1985 graduate of Spring Hill College. She received her juris doctorate from Mercer University’s School of Law in Macon, Georgia, in 1989.
Tillman’s appointment is effective immediately.
Jim ‘Zig’ Zeigler’s beat is the colorful and positive about Alabama -- her people, places, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at [email protected].
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