When qualifying ended at noon March 8, the Ocumulgee Judicial Circuit district attorney had no opposition, which means another four years in the office for T. Wright Barksdale III.
The district attorney turned 34 two days after taking office in 2021, making him one of the youngest to do so, and he walked into a court system that had been brought to a halt by a pandemic with two death penalty cases staring him in the face.
During an interview in his office last week, Barksdale said he had recently been reflecting on the past three years in the office and the past 11 and a half years of his career.
Since the beginning of 2021, his office has tried 40 homicide cases and gotten guilty verdicts in all but four.
“That’s an amazing statistic, and I’m proud of that. But you get there with a good partnership with law enforcement,” Barksdale said.
He noted that the Ocmulgee Circuit covers the counties of Jones, Baldwin, Greene, Hancock, Morgan, Putnam and Wilkinson, making it the largest circuit in the state.
“In all eight counties, so far in this calendar year, we have not had one homicide. I’m not taking credit for that, but I do realize I’m a part of that,” the District Attorney said. “I’m proud of the work we have done.”
Barksdale said there are many criminal factors that press on the community every day.
“Our mission is to keep our citizens safe.”
He said he and his staff work hard every day for the people of the circuit.
“We want to continue to evolve and grow partnerships,” he said.
Barksdale began his career as an assistant district attorney in the Ocmulgee Circuit in Jones County in 2013, and he moved his family to Gray in 2014. He and his wife Katie have three children, who are now ages 7, 8 and 10.
He took over the duties of prosecutor in Putnam County in 2015, and he handled both Putnam and Hancock Counties from 2017 until his 2020 election as District Attorney.
Originally from Washington County, Barksdale is a graduate of Georgia Southern and Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School. He interned at the Baldwin and Fulton County solicitor’s office and was hired as an assistant district attorney by the Paulding Judicial Circuit.
When the opportunity presented itself, he chose to work in Jones County because it was closer to home.
Barksdale said all the eight counties’ DA offices in the circuit are fully staffed. That is even though the salaries for prosecutors in the state of Georgia are near the bottom of the barrel with Mississippi at the bottom.
“My goal is to make our DA’s office the best. We’ve been able to benefit in our staffing because of issues in other counties,” he said.
The district attorney said he plans to ask for an increase in the budget for the office this year, which has not happened in 20 years. He said he also plans to ask for an increase in county supplements.
“This is a state office, and we’ll be asking for continued help,” he said.
The district attorney expressed his gratitude for local partners and the help received from ARPA funding the last few years.
Barksdale said being an assistant district attorney is an entirely different job than district attorney.
“I knew I could do the job as assistant DA, but being the district attorney means being responsible for everything that happens. That means eight different county budgets in addition to the state budget. You’re working with 33 employees. That includes managing expectations and adjusting to hearing ‘that’s not the way I would do it,’” he said. “I jumped in headfirst and had to swim.”
Barksdale recalled when he “came through the gates,” courthouses were opening after being shut down.
“We were trying cases in auditoriums and gyms, while still going through the pandemic. Major cases were popping every month,” he said.
He said he remembers staying up at night concerned about the people working in his office burning out.
“I saw my people exhausted,” he said. “This job is harder than anyone could know.”
Barksdale said, because of all that, court has changed, and prosecutors had to evolve. He said he believes being 34 was a huge asset for him through all that.
“It gave me the energy I needed to work at a level I may not have been able to do at 50,” he said. “I was able to push through the long hours.”
The district attorney said his decision to rely on the experienced prosecutors already in the office and to bring in more experienced prosecutors was a second reason it all worked.
“I tried to take what I knew and relied on my staff who gave me input on decisions. This gave us a plan to deal with what was in front of us,” he said. “While my youth was an asset, I was also fortunate at the office that was in place.”
Barksdale said he listened when someone had a better idea.
“Who cares whose idea it is; we want to get it right,” he said.
The district attorney said the death penalty cases of Donnie Rowe in 2021 and Ricky Dubose in 2022 stand out when reflecting on the past few years. Rowe was convicted and sentenced to serve two life sentences, and Dubose received the death penalty for the 2017 murders of corrections officers Christopher Monica and Curtis Billue.
However, Barksdale said his proudest moment as district attorney in Jones County was the Oct. 6, 2022, conviction of Cameren Myles Banks, Justerrious Shyhem Canty and Jaqualan Desean Clark for the November of 2017 murder of Donald Marquis Hardwick.
That trial lasted six days and resulted in guilty sentences for all counts for which the defendants were charged. Each of the three defendants were sentenced to multiple life sentences with added years tacked on for good measure.
“You just don’t have people shot 20-plus times in their bed. That shocked the community; getting those convictions was a big deal,” he said.
Barksdale said he may be younger than many in the office, but he has tried more murder cases over the past three years than any other district attorney in the state. He is the only one to have tried a death penalty case during his first term.
With all that being said, the district attorney said he never wants to lose sight that those his office deals with are human beings.
The district attorney said said people like Sheriff Butch Reece have helped mold him and helped him understand when to try to help and when to throw away the key.
“One of the things I’ve grown to appreciate more is there are defendants who we need to make the effort to put in place a resolution to help when we can,” he said.
He said his office has an open-door policy, and he plans to remain accessible to the public.
“I’m looking forward to the next four years and want to build on the success of this office,” he said.
The district attorney said his hope for the future includes no pandemics, no record crimes, no death penalty cases and no backlogs.
“That would allow us to focus on day-to-day operation,” he said. Barksdale said he is proud being fully staffed and proud to work with staff members to improve themselves.
“I want to help get them where they want to be. Many are going to school, and we want to continue to build a culture of togetherness,” he said.
