Chief Justice Harold Melton, Supreme Court of Georgia. (Photo: John Disney/ALM)

The Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice's Commission on Professionalism has announced the appointment of three new members.

The commission also has a new chairman: Chief Justice Harold Melton, sworn in to lead the court Sept. 4. The Chief Justice's Commission on Professionalism was the first organization of its kind in the country. The Georgia Supreme Court created it in 1989 with the primary charge of enhancing professionalism among Georgia's lawyers. The commission provides continuing education and mentoring to members of the bar. It is composed of representatives of the practicing bar, judiciary, law schools and the public.

Tallapoosa Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Meng H. Lim will serve a two-year term as a superior court designee, the commission announced Thursday. Lim was elected in 2014 and is Georgia's first Asian-American superior court judge, according to the commission's announcement. Lim also serves on the Supreme Court Commission on Interpreters. Lim is a graduate of Emory University and the Mercer University Walter F. George School of Law and was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia in 1998.

Court of Appeals of Georgia Judge-Elect Kenneth B. Hodges III of Albany was appointed to a one-year term on the commission as the current president of the State Bar of Georgia. Hodges was elected in May 2018 as a judge of the Court of Appeals, filling the open seat left when Judge John Ellington sought election instead to the Georgia Supreme Court. Hodges will take office in January 2019. Hodges previously served as district attorney of the Dougherty Judicial Circuit and has since been in private practice. Hodges is a past chairman of the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia and past president of the District Attorneys' Association of Georgia. Hodges is a graduate of Emory University and the University of Georgia School of Law and was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia in 1991.

Toombs County Chief Magistrate Judge Rizza P. O'Connor of Vidalia has been appointed to serve a one-year term on the commission as the current president of the Young Lawyers Division of the State Bar of Georgia. She previously worked as an assistant district attorney for the Middle Judicial Circuit and the Eastern Judicial Circuit. O'Connor is a graduate of the Mercer University Walter F. George School of Law and was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia in 2011.