In 2016, Gov. Nathan Deal, right, presented the newest judges of the Court of Appeals (from left), Tripp Self, Charlie Bethel and Clyde Reese, a handmade gavel made by inmates in the state prison system. Photo by John Disney/ALM

Gov. Nathan Deal became known for appointing more judges than anyone in Georgia's history. He gave them all engraved plaques with gavels made by inmates at Georgia prisons. Along with the gifts, he told the judges to remember that everyone has redeemable qualities.

Deal will be expanding on that theme next week in the new 215,000-square-foot, $131 million home for the Georgia Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals. The former governor will appear for a media tour of the newly opened Nathan Deal Judicial Center starting at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, the Supreme Court's public information officer said Friday. The tour will feature information about the building, including furniture that was made by inmates.

Along with judges and justices, the gathering will include Georgia Commissioner of Corrections Timothy Ward and an unnamed former prison inmate to talk about the work on display, the public information officer said.

Deal left office on Dec. 31, 2018, after two four-year terms—the limit allowed by Georgia law. During that time, he led a criminal justice reform movement that became a national model. Deal took pride in reducing the prison population—and budget—by creating a network of treatment programs, called accountability courts.

Though Deal is a lawyer and a former juvenile court judge himself, he said he took inspiration from his son, Northeastern Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Jason Deal. When his father became governor, the younger Deal was already presiding over accountability courts for those charged with nonviolent offenses related to drug and alcohol addictions. Participants complied with requirements—meetings, counseling, employment, clean drug tests—in exchange for avoiding prison. If they broke the rules, they went to jail.

The son invited the father to speak at drug court graduation ceremonies, featuring inspired stories of those who had completed the program, avoided prison, and put their lives back together.

"If you don't cry at drug court graduation, you have no heart," the elder Deal would come to say often.

The state only had a handful of accountability courts at the time. Deal inspired judges to create more, not only by promoting the concept, but by persuading the General Assembly to fund judicial pay supplements for accountability court leadership. The younger Deal's court frequently hosted in the family's hometown of Gainesville visitors seeking to learn more about how an accountability court operates. Georgia now has one or more in every one of its 159 counties.

Deal also expanded the Georgia Supreme Court from seven to nine members, and the Court of Appeals from 12 to 15. And he secured the funding for the first custom-built home for the appellate courts, saying he expected the building to last for 100 years.

Wednesday's media tour is to be followed by a formal dedication ceremony at 10:30 a.m. on Feb. 11, on the plaza in front of the new building on the corner of Capitol Avenue and Memorial Drive. Deal is expected to return for that event, for which the keynote speaker will be Georgia-born U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Along with Thomas and Deal, speakers at the dedication ceremony will include current Gov. Brian Kemp, along with Attorney General Chris Carr, federal and state judges, legislators and others.

For a flavor of Deal's message to new judges, here's a quote from a December 2016 swearing-in ceremony. 

"Even those who violate our laws and wind up in our prisons have redeeming social values," Deal said as he presented an inmate-made gavel. "I hope you will display it prominently and remember those values."