a Lone Star Georgia Peach

Born and raised in Texas, Judge Polk chose Georgia to live, work, and raise her children.

 

Judge Polk received her B.A. in Political Science from Texas A&M University. She was a recipient of the Texas A&M Presidential Achievement Scholarship and a member of Tau Kappa Honor Society. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of Cincinnati College of Law where she was president of the Black Law Student Association, a member of the Dean’s Diversity Task Force, and on the Dean’s List. During her law school career, she attended the University of Cape Town in South Africa to study comparative justice through a Study Abroad program. 

 

Judge Polk worked for Atlanta Legal Aid Society for over eight years. She handled an active caseload of domestic relations, family violence, housing, consumer, public benefits, and disability cases. She was the supervising attorney of the Gwinnett office, managing student interns, paralegals, and new lawyers.

 

Judge Polk established Ashby & Polk, LLC with her partner in 2007. The law firm specialized in wills, trusts, estate planning, powers of attorney, guardianship, probate, elder law, divorce, custody, legitimation, and child support. She also served as a Guardian Ad Litem in domestic relations cases, an Ombudsman in bankruptcy cases involving patient care, as a Hearing Officer in public housing informal review hearings, and became a trained mediator while with the firm. 

 

Judge Polk joined the DeKalb County Magistrate Court as an Associate Magistrate Judge in 2010. She was appointed as a Supervising Judge of that Court in 2016. She handled a plethora of criminal matters, various civil calendars, domestic violence dockets, and administration concerns.  Her additional duties included teaching Police Academy, managing special projects, and coordinating community outreach and education.

 

In July 2022, Governor Brian Kemp appointed Judge Polk as the Superior Court Judge of Division 8 in DeKalb County, Georgia, the Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit. She presides over felony criminal, civil, and domestic relations matters.

 

Judge Polk is a member of the State Bar of Georgia, the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys (GABWA), the DeKalb Bar Association, and the DeKalb Lawyers Association. In 2006, she was selected to be in the Founding Class of the State Bar of Georgia Young Lawyers Division’s Leadership Academy.

 

Judge Polk is an ardent supporter of schools in the community. She regularly speaks to elementary, middle and high school students about legal issues and evaluates high school mock trial competitions. She has been a guest lecturer at Atlanta Technical College, Georgia Piedmont Technical College, Georgia State University, John Marshall Law School, and an adjunct instructor in the Emory Law School Trial Techniques Program.

 

Judge Polk is a member of Leadership DeKalb 2013 Class, Leadership Georgia 2016 Class, the Decatur Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and an associate member of the Stone Mountain Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc. She has received awards and recognition from these organizations, as well as other groups.