Circuit Judge Charles A. “Lex” Short announced that he has qualified for re-election for the office of circuit judge place No. 1 for the 22nd Judicial Circuit of Alabama.

Judge Short has served as circuit judge since January 2001.

“It has been my privilege to serve the citizens of Covington County as circuit judge for the past 11 years. The circuit court is a court of general jurisdiction, meaning that we hear all manner of cases ranging from misdemeanor appeals to capital murder cases and from small claims appeals to complex medical malpractice and product liability claims. We also hear and rule on a variety of domestic relations cases involving divorce and child custody.

“I believe that one of the most demanding and important parts of my job is in the area of child custody. Many times when parents divorce, I have to decide who will have the primary custody of the parties’ children. It is my belief that these decisions are among the most important ones I make, because they set the stage for the kind of adult that child will become. It affects the child in every area including religious beliefs, education moral character, work ethic and civic responsibility. I take these decisions very seriously and pray for God’s guidance in making each one of them.

“I know that the decisions I make in all types of cases affect peoples’ lives and although no one, including me, can be right all the time, I do try to make the correct decisions based upon the facts before me and in a manner that is consistent with my own upbringing and beliefs. I was fortunate to come from a strong Christian family with parents and grandparents who set a good example for me to follow in not only raising my own children, but also in making decisions in cases that appear before me.

“Serving as circuit judge has been, and continues to be, an extremely rewarding experience and I would be honored to serve another term.”

Before becoming circuit judge, Short was in the private practice of law, where he had a general law practice handling all different types of cases and he also served as an assistant district attorney for 11 years, where he handled hundreds of criminal cases.

Short said, “My time as an assistant district attorney afforded me the opportunity to actually be in the courtroom trying jury trials including murder, drugs and robbery cases on a monthly basis. I believe that ample experience in the courtroom as a lawyer is necessary to prepare you to move up to the bench and judge those cases, and I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to handle hundreds of criminal cases before I took the bench.”

Judge Short and his wife, Susan Jones Short, were both reared in Andalusia and they have three children, Sara Catherine and Alex, who are both college students, and Ada, who is a third grader.