Jurist and Mitchell County native George T. Smith dead at 93

ATLANTA — Veteran jurist and politician George T. Smith has died, according to Associated Press reports.

Smith, who was born in Mitchell County in 1916, was 93.

Smith holds the distinction of being the only person in Georgia history to be elected to an office in each of the three branches of government.

A graduate of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Smith was first elected to the Georgia House in 1959 and served as the chamber’s speaker from 1963 to 1966. In 1967, he won a term as lieutenant governor, a post he held until 1971.

He was on the Georgia Court of Appeals from 1976 to 1980 and then served on the Georgia Supreme Court until 1991.

He then went into private practice, continuing to go into work three days a week into his 90s, said Jennifer D’Ambrisi, who works for his law firm.

Joan Smith said her husband was a “fine Christian man who had a strong code of ethics and a love for his fellow man.”