2026 Summer Public Defense Conference

Gerald P. "Jerry" Word graduated from West Georgia College in Carrollton in 1973 with an AB in Mathematics and Political Science, and Emory University with a JD in 1975.  He was in private practice in Carrollton for 29 years doing mainly criminal defense and personal injury law.  In 2004 he was appointed as the Circuit Public Defender for the Coweta Judicial Circuit.  In 2007 he took over as the Capital Defender, where he oversaw the handling of roughly 250 death penalty cases until his retirement in August of 2020.  Since that time, he has returned to private practice continuing his work consulting on capital cases and potential capital cases under the Capital Early Intervention Program.  He served two terms on the Board of Directors of the Federal Defender Office for the Northern District of Georgia, two terms on the Georgia Indigent Defense Council, and was the only member of the GIDC to be appointed to the 2003 Georgia Public Standards Council, where he served a 6 year term.