Sallay Jusu to replace Michael Meyer von Bremen as Magistrate Court judge

ALBANY – Those who follow the goings-on at the Dougherty County Courthouse will note a significant change in early March.

Sallay Jusu, deputy chief district attorney in the Dougherty District Attorney’s office, will replace Dougherty Magistrate Court Judge Michael Meyer von Bremen on the bench. Von Bremen, who served 12 years as a state Senator, is stepping down from the bench after serving as a Magistrate for seven years.

State Court Judge John Stephenson made the announcement.

“After a long and distinguished career serving the people of Dougherty County, first in private practice and as an appointed Magistrate since 2019, Judge Michael Meyer von Bremen is retiring as a judge,” Stephenson said. “We will all miss his wisdom, his wit and his experience, but wish Peggy and him the very best as they start a new phase in their lives together as retirees.

“We hate to lose Judge Meyer von Bremen on the bench, but we understand his desire to spend more time with his six grandchildren. He has been very conscientious in that position, a really great judge.”

Stephenson, who as State Court Judge is required, through local legislation, to make the final decision on applicants for a position in Magistrate Court. He said Thursday there were some strong applicants, but Jusu “gave the best interview and the timing was right for her.”

“Local legislation places the appointment of Dougherty County Magistrates in the hands of the State Court Judge,” Stephenson said. “Dougherty County Magistrates must meet the eligibility requirements for our Superior Court Judges and the State Court Judge because they are tasked with performing functions for those courts. I am very appreciative of the highly qualified candidates who submitted their names for consideration to join Chief Judge Baxter Howell and Judge Karin Middleton as a full-time Judge of Dougherty Magistrate Court.

“I am pleased to announce that I have appointed Sallay Jusu to serve the citizens of Dougherty County in that capacity, and she has accepted the appointment. Ms. Jusu is a native of West Africa and spent most of her youth in the Memphis, Tenn., area. She graduated from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and from law school at the Florida A&M University College of Law in Orlando, Fla., obtaining her J.D. in 2012. She has, since March of 2017, worked in the Dougherty County District Attorney’s office, first in the State Court Division and later in the felony division.”

Jusu said Thursday it was divine intervention that brought her to Albany and now to the Magistrate position.

“When I was in law school, I have to be honest: I never meant to be a prosecutor,” the new judge said. “I had the typical mindset about prosecutors, and my ultimate goal was to do family law.”

But Jusu found her way to Albany and on the prosecutorial side of the law, where she’s argued cases involving “murder, rape, sex crimes, burglary, the whole gamut.”

She said Albany was a mystery to her when she first came here.

“I never knew where Albany was, never knew there even was an Albany, Georgia,” she said. “But I was brought here by God, and it’s been a great fit. I fell in love with this place when I got here and I saw the impact I could have on people’s lives.

“God knew where I’d fit in.”

Asked her judicial goals, Jusu laughed.

“I owe that to my mom,” she said. “She told me at a very young age that I would sit on the Supreme Court of the United States.

“But I disagree with that misconception about ‘judging ‘people. I will be judging circumstances. All of us share circumstances, but by the grace of God some of us make it out the other side. My job, as I see it, is to make sure that justice is done. You prepare for that by praying.”

Stephenson said Jusu is expected to be sworn in around March 2.