Charles J. "Charlie" Bethel

Charles J. “Charlie” Bethel served as a judge on the Georgia Court of Appeals for approximately 20 months before being elevated to the Georgia Supreme Court in 2018. Before ascending to the bench, Bethel was elected to four terms in the Georgia State Senate, where he was chair of both the Insurance and Labor Committee and the Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee. His service also included being a floor leader and a deputy whip. His other elected position includes being an alderman for the city of Dalton. After law school, he served as a judicial clerk for Charles A. Pannell Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia before joining the law firm Minor Bell & Neal in Dalton. Bethel earned both his bachelor’s and law degrees from UGA.