The judge appointed this week to hear the criminal case against former probate judge Sherrie Phillips has been a circuit judge since 1983 and the presiding circuit judge in Montgomery since 1999.

The Administrative Office of Courts has appointed Judge Charles Price, presiding judge in the 15th Judicial Circuit of Alabama, to hear the case. The appointment became necessary after Covington County’s circuit judges, Ashley McKathan and Lex Short, recused themselves from the case.

Price is a Montgomery native who served in the U.S. Army six years, including three years with the Green Beret unit and three years with the 82nd Airborne Division. He later joined the U.S. Army Reserves, from which he retired as a lieutenant colonel, Judge Advocate General’s Corps.

He graduated from law school at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and began his legal career at the U.S. Dept. of Justice. He returned to Alabama to work as an assistant attorney general and later became deputy district attorney for Montgomery County, holding that position until he entered private practice. Judge Price was appointed assistant municipal judge for Montgomery County and on April 4, 1983, Gov. George C. Wallace appointed him Montgomery County Circuit Judge.

He was president of the Alabama Circuit Judges Association in 2002-2003. Among Judge Price’s many awards and honors is the 1997 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.

Source: National Bar Association websiteº