Chatham County Assistant District Attorney Kim Rowden on Sunday was named the 2013 Assistant District Attorney of the Year by the state’s District Attorney’s association.
The award, presented during the group’s annual summer conference at the Jekyll Island Convention Center, came on the nomination of Chatham County District Attorney Meg Heap with additional kudos from former DA Spencer Lawton Jr.
“When Kim prepares for trial, she puts her heart and soul into the case,” Heap said. “I have known Kim for 27 years, and I have never seen a more dedicated, hard-working, humble prosecutor.”
Added Lawton, “Kim is the sort of lawyer who turns the processing of criminal cases from a beneficial, but more or less routine service to our community into an example of the noble art of professional prosecution.”
He called Rowden “a smart woman whose integrity is of a piece with professionalism she has demonstrated, without ever flaunting it, over the course of 28 years in the trenches.”
Rowden, 54, has been an assistant prosecutor here since 1985. She is currently is assigned to Chatham County Juvenile Court where she handled the office’s first case under the Criminal Street Gang Statute in a case involving 16 co-defendants.
Her supervisor in Juvenile court, Chief Assistant District Attorney Diane McLeod, said Rowden’s efforts in that case brought all 16 defendants into court within 10 days after their detention hearings.
Those cases were adjudicated within 45 days, McLeod said.
“Her work ethic and professionalism were exemplary while the case was pending,” McLeod said. “Rowden is an excellent example of hard work, diligence and professionalism.”
Rowden initially served in the State Court Division before moving to Superior Court where she handled felony prosecutions.
She earned her bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, in political science from Mercer University in 1981 and her law degree from the university’s law school in 1984 before joining he prosecutor’s office.