Cobb Judicial Circuit's Chief Magistrate Judge Joyette Holmes will become the district attorney, replacing Vic Reynolds, who left to become executive director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Gov. Brian Kemp announced the appointment Wednesday.

“Judge Holmes is a servant leader in her community, and I am very excited to select her as Cobb's new District Attorney,” Kemp said in a news release. “I know Joyette will put the safety of Cobb families first and always do the right thing—even when no one is watching.”

Upon her swearing in, Holmes, 43, will become Cobb's first female and first African American DA.

She broke the same barrier when the Cobb County Superior Court appointed her chief magistrate in 2015 after Frank Cox resigned. She then ran and was elected to the position in 2016.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to continue to serve the people of Cobb County, and I thank Governor Kemp for the trust that he has placed in me,” Holmes said in the governor's news release. “I look forward to ensuring Georgians within my jurisdiction remain safe and continue to prosper in our great state.”

Holmes spoke with the district attorney's office Wednesday. A partial video was posted on the DA's Facebook page, as was a photo of Holmes with acting DA John Melvin. Melvin has already announced he would be leaving upon the governor's appointment of a permanent replacement for Reynolds. Soon after the governor appointed Reynolds to the GBI top job, Reynolds announced he would hire Melvin to be his chief of staff.

“This office has been under great leadership. I pray that that doesn't change in your minds, nor in the minds of Cobb County and the state of Georgia,” Holmes told the gathered prosecutors and staff. “Y'all are a great group of people. I'm grateful for the opportunity—humbled, honored, feel really good about where we're going to go.”

Holmes is a native of Valdosta. She graduated from Valdosta High School and the University of Georgia, where she earned dual bachelor's degrees in psychology and criminal justice. She earned her J.D. from the University of Baltimore School of Law in Maryland.

Holmes worked as a public defender in Maryland fresh out of law school. After moving to Cobb County—her husband's home—she had a private practice in criminal defense and family law. And she worked a stint as a prosecutor on misdemeanor cases for Solicitor General Barry Morgan.

Holmes and Reynolds became well acquainted in the summer of 2012. That was the year he was first elected DA. Holmes in 2012 was one of four candidates for an open seat on Cobb's traffic court. Judge Marsha Lake won. Still, Holmes thrived on the campaign and built relationships. When Reynolds became DA the following January, he hired her as a prosecutor. Reynolds mentioned that summer in his speech at Holmes' swearing-in ceremony for chief magistrate.

“If you really want to get to know someone, spend several months with them on the campaign trail. In the summer. When it's 97 degrees. I promise their character will come out,” he said at the time.

Reynolds added that Homes exemplifies all the qualities a judge should have: fairness, integrity, patience, “the fortitude to be tough when necessary,” the “heart to be compassionate when appropriate” and the “courtesy to treat everyone in the courtroom with dignity and respect.”

When Holmes took the oath as chief magistrate, the audience included the first African American president of the State Bar of Georgia, Patrise Perkins-Hooker. Georgia Court of Appeals Judge Yvette Miller attended. Georgia Supreme Court Justice Robert Benham, the first African American on the state's high court, spoke, calling Holmes “one of my mentees.”

“Joyette brings a wealth of real-life experience, not just as an attorney but also as an outstanding citizen of Cobb,” Cobb Superior Court Judge J. Stephen Schuster, then-chief judge, said when announcing her appointment as chief magistrate. “In her professional career, she's seen both sides, working in private practice and as a prosecutor. Joyette and her family have strong roots in our community. She understands how to be a judge as well as an administrator.”

Come summer 2020, she'll be campaigning again—this time as the incumbent district attorney.