DeKalb County Judge Clarence Seeliger. (Photo: Zach Porter/ALM)

At least two candidates are organizing to run for the open seat to be created next year by the retirement of DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Clarence Seeliger.

DeKalb County Juvenile Court Chief Judge Vincent Crawford and family law practitioner Melinda "Mindy" Pillow have filed declarations with the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission saying they intend to run for the seat on the May 19 nonpartisan ballot.

DeKalb County Juvenile Court Chief Judge Vincent Crawford.

"I feel ready," Crawford said in an interview Thursday. He said he will have been practicing law for 30 years in 2020. During the three decades since he graduated from Mercer University Law School, he's worked as a legal aid lawyer, a public defender, a prosecutor and an attorney in private practice. As a juvenile court judge, he fills in for superior court judges already.

"I know the job," Crawford said. "I want to serve."

Pillow is a graduate of Georgia State University School of Law and formerly practiced at Kilpatrick Townsend and Davis, Matthews and Quigley before starting her own firm in Decatur. She specializes in family law, custody, divorce, legitimation, adoption and other domestic matters.

Mindy Pillow of Pillow Law.

Those kinds of cases make up 45% of the workload for the DeKalb court job, according to Seeliger, who will retire at the age of 80 after serving 40 years on the bench.

Pillow said Seeliger is her inspiration.

"We have an exceptionally talented group of jurists here in DeKalb County. The DeKalb Superior Court bench is full of qualified judges with varying backgrounds. However, my experience in family law will give me a unique perspective and allow me to complement the bench," Pillow said. "Judge Seeliger is the reason I am running."

Pillow added that she wants to make sure families "continue to have a voice."

The election is on May 19, 2020.