Augusta power couple draws side-eye as courthouse politics heat up
Staff Reports
Augusta’s courthouse drama isn’t just happening in the courtroom.
Chief Civil and Magistrate Court Judge Carletta Sims Brown is launching a bid for a second term — even as the city is still searching for a permanent replacement for her husband, former Augusta General Counsel Wayne Brown.
The optics? Raising eyebrows.
Brown, the first woman and first African American to serve as chief judge, plans to announce her campaign on the courthouse steps this week, pitching experience, stability, and “equal justice for all.” But critics quietly note the timing: the judge’s re-election push comes while City Hall continues to sort out life after her husband’s exit from one of the city’s most powerful legal posts.
Wayne Brown served as Augusta’s top lawyer for years, advising commissioners and city leadership on everything from contracts to lawsuits. His departure left a vacuum — one the city has yet to permanently fill.
Now, with one spouse seeking voter approval and the other’s former office still unsettled, whispers are circulating about how intertwined Augusta’s legal and political circles have become.
Supporters say Judge Brown earned her seat fair and square — appointed by the governor in 2021 and then winning a tough Democratic primary in 2022. They point to community outreach, court reforms, and her legal résumé across Georgia.
Skeptics counter that her opponent in 2022, longtime Augusta attorney Katrell Nash, had deeper local roots — and that questions about insider influence never fully went away.
No ethics violations have been alleged. No rules have been broken.
But in a city long familiar with political overlap and courthouse intrigue, the message from some voters is simple: when power stays close to home, people notice.
With no challenger yet in the race, Judge Brown starts as the favorite. Still, as Augusta keeps hunting for a new city attorney — and voters weigh continuity versus comfort — the campaign may be less about law and more about perception.
And in local politics, perception can be everything.
