NEXT GENERATION
The road to law school had a few curves for a young Jones County woman and included hands-on experience in the Ocmulgee Circuit District Attorney’s office.
Elayna McSwain will celebrate her 23rd birthday by starting Mercer Law School Aug. 14. She said her last day as secretary in the Jones County District Attorney’s office, July 28, was bittersweet, saying goodbye to friends and mentors, including District Attorney Wright Barksdale.
Elayna’s parents are Jason and Tracy McSwain. She graduated from Jones County High School in 2018 and from Mercer University in 2022 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology and a minor in Criminal Justice.
She was a cheerleader at JCHS and all four years at Mercer.
“I wasn’t interested in law until my junior year of college when a judge came to speak to us,” the student said.
She said after listening to the judge, her attention changed to the legal rather than the neuroscience part of criminal justice.
Barksdale said he met Elayna after receiving a phone call about her interest in becoming an intern in his office. He said there are no funds in his budget for interns, which means they are unpaid.
“She started work early in the fall and became a vital part of our team in the Hardwick murder trial,” the DA said.
He said she helped with the social media portion of the case.
“Elayna did so well. She worked so hard and put in the hours. When we had an opening for a secretary, we hired her,” Barksdale said. “She came in and just impressed everyone.”
He said he was proud and excited for her when she was accepted into law school and is hopeful she will return to work as a prosecutor in his office.
“She was one of the best interns we’ve had,” Barksdale added.
Elayna said she took a gap year to get her masters in criminal justice and was taking classes while working at the DA’s office. She started as an intern in August of 2022 and was hired as secretary in February.
She took the Law School Admissions Test and was accepted at three law schools.
“I received a scholarship from Mercer that will pay half of my tuition. That was a deciding factor in my choice of schools,” the student said.
She said her parents were excited about her decision to stay close to home.
Elayna said her experience working at the DA’s office has brought the mental health problems prosecutors and law enforcement deal with every day to her attention, and she would like to help with that.
She said she had a moment of clarity following a Morgan County murder trial that helped her realize she was where she was supposed to be.
“My role wasn’t that big, but the family thanked me for my help. They made me feel like I had made a difference,” the student recalled.
Elayna said she is sad to leave her job and will miss the people.
“I love this office; the people here have helped me get where I wanted to go,” she said.
She said she hopes to come back and work as a third-year law student, but she would come back with a different title.
“I remember the same day I got the call that I was accepted at Mercer, we were with Wright, who was getting ready to argue a case in front of the Supreme Court. I think he was as excited as I was,” Elayna said. “I’ll never forget that call to my parents.”
