The leadership of the Fayette, Spalding, Pike and Upson branches of the NAACP “have banded together to ensure that citizens in the four-county area of the Griffin Judicial Circuit are well aware of the judicial issues affecting our communities,” according to a statement.

“Candidates for judge and district attorney are the sole focus of this forum because these candidate serve a judicial circuit instead of a political district. Also, these political races are often overlooked and do not get the critical attention they deserve.”

The Griffin Judicial Circuit candidate forum is scheduled for Sunday, April 17, 6-9 p.m. at the Stuckey Auditorium, 1109 Experiment Street on the University of Georgia’s Griffin campus. Candidates for district attorney and judgeships are expected to attend and take questions from concerned citizens.

Candidates for Superior Court Judge are current District Attorney Scott Ballard, Judge Tommy Hankinson, Judge Robert Mack Crawford and Attorney Catherine Sanderson. Ballard is challenging Hankinson. Sanderson is challenging Crawford. Candidates for District Attorney are Ben Coker, Cindy Manning and Rudjard Hayes.