Leadership changes, efficiency improvements, criminal justice reform and warm memories highlighted Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice P. Harris Hines' final State of the Judiciary address to the General Assembly Thursday.

“The year 2018 will be a year of great change and great promise for our state,” Hines began, speaking to a joint session of the state Legislature in the House of Representatives Chamber at the State Capitol with a speech that was live streamed by Georgia Public Broadcasting.

“We will elect a new governor and lieutenant governor, and we will say an appreciative goodbye to a truly outstanding leader, Gov. Nathan Deal. And, because at my core I am a son of the law, I wish to thank two lawyer-representatives, Wendell Willard and Rich Golick, who will retire from the House this year.”

Hines added that the year ahead will also bring judicial leadership changes.

“Our citizens will elect a new justice to our Supreme Court,” he said, noting the open seat in the May 22 election created by the retirement of Justice Carol Hunstein at the end of the year. “And, Governor Deal will make his fifth appointment to the court.”

That fifth appointment will be to replace Hines. The chief justice plans to wrap up his 50-year legal career at the end of August before his 75th birthday—the effective retirement age for Georgia appellate judges, who must leave by then or forfeit their pensions.

“The members of the Supreme Court will choose a new chief justice,” Hines said. “And I'll give you a heads-up. The smart money is on Presiding Justice Harold Melton.”

Hines said he is confident that, when he leaves, “Georgia's judiciary will be steady, strong and situated to become the best it has ever been.”

Dynamic growth has brought some of the most dramatic changes of his career, Hines said, noting that Georgia is the eighth most populous state and among the 10 fastest growing.

“Growth brings opportunity,” Hines said. “It is no surprise that, for the fifth year in a row, Georgia has been named the No. 1 state in the nation to do business. One of the necessary preconditions to successfully doing business is the rule of law—knowing that contracts will be enforced as written, knowing that the law will be applied as drafted by the Legislature and knowing that there is an orderly, reasonable and fair process for resolving disputes.”

That brought Hines to a pitch for a new statewide business court. The Georgia Court Reform Council has recommended it. The governor has endorsed it.

“If you, the members of the General Assembly, approve a constitutional amendment, and the voters endorse it by a two-thirds vote, this court will have jurisdiction similar, in certain ways, to our federal courts and also have the expertise to handle complex financial cases. It would operate similarly to the specialized business courts now operating in Fulton and Gwinnett counties,” said Hines. “I hope this initiative meets with your approval.”

Hines said he has witnessed a “sea change” as a judge in the way society views and responds to criminal behavior.

“We've become smarter, more precise and more just. As a result, the courts are doing a better job of protecting society, saving taxpayer dollars and restoring families,” Hines said. “Criminal justice reform has been a hallmark of Gov. Deal's administration, as it has been for many of you legislators. It is not just the policy changes that you have made in criminal procedures that make Georgia a national leader in this movement but the nonpartisan and collaborative way in which it has been achieved.”

Hines paid tribute to his colleague, Justice Michael Boggs, who has led the governor's Criminal Justice Reform Council.

“Policy changes in our criminal justice system have accomplished three goals: They have ensured that we hold accountable those who violate the law. They have improved public safety by reducing the recidivism rate. And they have saved money,” Hines said. “Expensive prison commitments overall are down in Georgia, with 2017 having the lowest number since 2002. Also, the crime rate is down 6 percent.”

But Hines said the most dramatic change in that regard has been demographic. “Prison commitments among African-American citizens have dropped more than 30 percent between 2009 and 2016. The number of African-Americans entering the prison system in 2016 was its lowest since 1987,” Hines said. “This, ladies and gentlemen, is historic and worth celebrating.”

Hines talked about the success of the accountability court movement, noting that every judicial district in the state now has at least one. He paid particular attention to a newer wave of parental accountability courts and told a story about Henry County Superior Court Judge Brian Amero, who grew tired of putting fathers in jail for unpaid child support and came up with a creative solution in 2012.

“He began assigning each delinquent parent a case manager who helped the parent obtain job skills if needed, find work, keep work, solve transportation problems and overcome substance or alcohol abuse,” Hines said. “The parent was told, 'You are required to manage your child support responsibilities better. But if you prove you are working 40 hours a week or looking for work 40 hours a week and making a legitimate effort to pay your child support, you won't be incarcerated.'”

“Judge Amero is as passionate about these parental accountability courts as Justice Boggs is about criminal justice reform,” Hines said. He quoted Amero, saying that “the numbers have been phenomenal.” Once the parents get help with their underlying problems, most start financially supporting their children. They also strengthen their relationships.

“In six years of existence, these courts have helped almost 5,000 parents—mostly fathers—avoid jail time and pay more than $5 million in support for more than 7,000 Georgia children,” Hines said. “Additionally, they have saved counties more than $10 million in incarceration costs.”

Hines said parental accountability courts now operate in 33 of Georgia's 49 judicial circuits.

“The goal is to roll them out in every judicial circuit of the state,” Hines said. “My friends, any time we can safely reunite fathers, mothers and their children, we are helping to strengthen families, our communities and our state. This is noble work indeed.”

Hines sounded a list of concerns that need addressing in the future: a shortage of foster parents while the need for them explodes, partly due to the opioid addiction epidemic; access to justice, namely civil legal help for those who can't afford lawyers; and changing the money bail system for misdemeanor offenses.

But he said he's an optimist and believes the state's new leaders will make progress on those problems.

The chief took a moment for the new justices Deal placed on the high court a year ago—Boggs, Nels Peterson and Britt Grant. “Each is as bright as a new penny,” he said—twice.

Hines closed with an image of “a rising tide that will lift all boats and provide the opportunity for happiness and prosperity for generations of Georgians to come.”

And he gave a tribute to his wife of 49 years, who was in the House chamber.

“Finally, I want to thank the lady to whom I gave my best closing argument ever, when I persuaded her to marry me way back in 1969. Helen, you are my rock, my partner, my best friend, my dear one. You have been with me every step of our journey together and have made me a better man, a better father, and a better judge,” Hines said. “To me, you've always been springtime at the Masters.”