DeKalb County Magistrate Court will expand its jurisdiction in July to include cases of criminal and civil ordinance violations and animal control.
To accommodate the growth, Chief Magistrate Berryl Anderson has appointed four new, part-time magistrates: September Guy, a municipal court judge in Dunwoody; Decatur attorney Hollie Manheimer; Matthew McCoyd, an adjunct professor at Emory University law school; and Tisha Tallman, chief administrative judge for the municipal court in Decatur.
"With this significant increase in caseload, our new judges will be especially valuable to the smooth operation of our court," Anderson said in a written statement.
Prior to becoming a municipal court judge, Guy was a prosecutor in the DeKalb solicitor's office and a public defender.
Manheimer previously was a judge on the now defunct Recorder's Court bench. She also is executive director of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation.
McCoyd is a former DeKalb assistant district attorney and is associate director for the Emory Center for Advocacy and Dispute Resolution.
Tallman, in addition to being a municipal court judge, is president and CEO of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
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Executive Director Biography
Hollie Manheimer
Executive Director
Georgia First Amendment Foundation
Executive Director
Hollie Manheimer began work as the first and only executive director of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation in January 1996. She graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College; received a Master’s in English from New York University; earned her Juris Doctorate from Emory University Law School; and received a Master’s in communication from Georgia State University. When not serving the foundation, Hollie practices law with Stuckey & Manheimer, Inc. and serves as a part-time judge of the DeKalb County Recorders Court.
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Judge Guy served as a solicitor for the city of Dunwoody Municipal Court for the last two years until her recent appointment to the DeKalb County Magistrate Court by Chief Magistrate Judge Berryl A. Anderson.
DeKalb County Misdemeanor Mental Health Court
The DeKalb County Misdemeanor Mental Health Court (“MMHC”), formerly the Diversion Treatment Court (“DTC”) is an accountability court that now operates as a post-plea court. The Court has been operational since May 2001 and has graduated and dismissed cases for more than 400 participants diagnosed with mental illness.
All Participants MUST:
- Have a verifiable Axis I mental health diagnosis
- A current charge pending in DeKalb County and minimum nonviolent criminal history
- Be capable of making an informed choice and be willing participate in the conditions of their deferred sentence
- Be willing to take all prescribed medications
Program Requirements and Referrals
- The DeKalb Misdemeanor Mental Health Court (MMHC) is a post-plea Accountability Court
- A Defendant is required to enter a plea of guilty or nolo contendere in the originating trial court prior to entering the MMHC
- That sentence will be deferred for the next 12 months
- With successful completion of the program, the sentence will be vacated, charges dismissed and the record restricted
- While in the program, a Defendant will be required to attend court appearances, mental health treatment appointments, therapeutic group sessions, undergo random drug screens, comply with medication adherence, etc.
- However, if a Defendant is terminated from the program for noncompliance, the case is returned to the originating trial court to impose the original sentence.
Steps to Enter:
- Referrals to the MMHC are received from the police, prosecutors, defense attorneys, public defenders, jail mental health, judges, Pre-trial Services, family and previous mental health court participants. The referral form may be found at the court’s website www.dekalbmisdemeanormentalhealthcourt.org (fax to 404-371-2683 or hand-deliver to the MMHC administrative assistant Ingrid George or any member of the court staff);
- Referred Defendants are then directed to a MMHC observation that is scheduled by a court social worker either from a mini-assessment after arraignment, or consultation with private counsel, the prosecutor and public defender’s office;
- Referred Defendants who were not directed to observation from a mini-assessment receive a mini-assessment immediately after the scheduled observation. The mini-assessment involves a brief interview and opportunity for court social workers to get a confidential release of information to establish the presence of mental illness;
- A more in-depth assessment and urinary drug screen is scheduled after records confirm mental illness and Referred Defendants are connected or reconnected to treatment providers;
- Referred Defendants are evaluated for participation and approved by the full MMHC Interdisciplinary Team for enrollment;
- A hearing is scheduled for the Defendant to enter a plea and participation in the MMCH is included in the sentence as a condition of probation; and
- The Diversion Treatment Court has been operational since May 2001 and has graduated nearly 400 individuals with mental illness and they have had their criminal cases dismissed.
Misdemeanor Mental Health Court:
- Is a voluntary judicially supervised court program
- Designs individual treatment plans appropriate for each individual’s needs
- Assists and requires a Participant to locate available and affordable treatment
- Assists with transportation needs by providing a MARTA Card when possible
Services Available
The MMHC strives to provide individually designed treatment plans that incorporate the dreams and aspirations that were the driving force for each individual before mental illness derailed those plans.
Treatment plans include:
- Compliance with prescribed medications
- Participation in treatment groups
- Compliance with house rules,
- Abstinence from drugs and/or alcohol
- Completion of schooling /training/GED
- Participation in community/volunteer services and peer support programs
- Application for public assistance where applicable, etc.
DeKalb County Misdemeanor Mental Health Court Location and Contact Information
DeKalb County Courthouse
Magistrate Court of DeKalb County
Suite 1200, First Floor, Courtroom 1200D
www.dekalbmisdemeanormentalhealthcourt.org
Judge Berryl A. Anderson, Chief Magistrate
Magistrate Rhathelia Stroud, Presiding Judge
Magistrate Judge Lindsay Jones, Assistant Judge
Magistrate Judge September Guy, Assistant Judge
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Emory Law Adjunct Professor Matthew McCoyd. He is a former Senior Assistant District Attorney in DeKalb County, and now serves as the Associate Director of Emory Law's Center for Advocacy and Dispute Resolution. Among other things, he teaches Advanced Evidence at Emory Law.
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Matthew J. McCoyd
Adjunct Professor
Areas of Expertise
Advocacy, Dispute Resolution
Matt McCoyd 93L served for seven years as a Senior Assistant District Attorney in DeKalb County, primarily in the White Collar Crime Unit, where he prosecuted RICO, white collar, and other complex criminal cases. He received the "Master Advocate" designation from the National Institute for Trial Advocacy in 2005.
He currently teaches Advanced Evidence, Cross-Examination, Advanced Criminal Trial Skills, is Of Counsel to Grant & Eisenhofer, and serves as a competition coach for the Emory Law Mock Trial Team. In past years he has taught Advanced Pre-Trial Litigation, and next year he will be adding Pretrial Litigation, Jury Selection/Jury Dynamics, and Litigating Identity in the Age of Scientific Advancement to his existing teaching schedule. He has been teaching in the Trial Techniques Program since 1999, including serving as a Team Leader in 2008, 2009, 2012, and 2013. He served as an instructor for the Oakland County (Pontiac, Mich.) Prosecuting Attorney Trial Techniques Institute in 2009, 2011, and 2013; as a Trial Instructor for the Republic of Georgia International Rule of Law Project in 2008; as a Faculty Member of the ICLE Georgia Trial Skills Clinic since 1996; and as an Attorney Coach for the Paideia School's Mock Trial Team since 1994. From 2009 through 2012 McCoyd served as a Teacher Instructor for the USAID Mexican Rule of Law Project.
In March of 2013 he was part of a team of four faculty members from Emory who traveled to Shanghai to participate in a training dialogue with Shanghai financial fraud prosecutors and presented a lecture on investigating complex financial crimes.
McCoyd is a past President of the DeKalb Bar Association, a founding member of the Georgia Innocence Project and a member of the American Constitution Society.
Education: JD, Emory University School of Law; BS, Georgia State University
For those of you whom I have not yet had the privilege of meeting, please let me introduce myself:
I grew up about a mile from the DeKalb County courthouse, in a house where my parents still live. I attended elementary school at St. Thomas More and went to high school at Paideia. I went to college at Georgia Southern and Georgia State, where I met my bride Meredith; who also grew up in DeKalb County and is a Lakeside High School alumna. After graduating from Georgia State in 1990, I attended law school at Emory. I received my JD from Emory Law in 1993 and then practiced commercial litigation at a downtown Atlanta firm for about 10 years.
Shortly after the birth of our son Matthew Louis I left the big firm life and moved to a small insurance defense firm, where I finally got to try a bunch of jury trials. During this time, Meredith and I decided to move from Buckhead back to Decatur to raise our son. We bought a house about a mile from the courthouse and two miles from the house I grew up in.
When my friend, and Emory Law School classmate, Gwen Keyes-Fleming was elected district attorney for DeKalb County, I left private practice and joined the District Attorney’s Office. When I first joined the office, I was assigned as a trial line prosecutor in Judge Seeliger’s court room; after about a year, I moved to the White Collar Crimes Unit where I got to try RICO and other complex criminal cases with Jeanne Canavan.
While I loved trying cases with Jeanne, not that many of our cases actually went to trial, and so, after about four years in the White Collar Crimes Unit, I asked to go back to the trial line so I could try more cases. I am currently assigned to Judge Coursey’s courtroom and am once again trying a lot of cases.
In my spare time, I teach a few classes as an adjunct professor at Emory Law, help coach the Emory Mock Trial Team, and help coach the High School Mock Trial Team at Paideia.
I am blessed that I get to do what I love, trying cases, in the community that I grew up in and where Meredith and I chose to raise our son. Meredith, Matthew Louis, and I love living in Decatur and believe in the future of DeKalb County. I am honored to serve as president of the DeKalb Bar Association and hope that I can continue the great work that Jennifer Little started during her term as president.
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Tisha R. Tallman
(Class of 1993)
Tisha R. Tallman, Decatur, Georgia, has become the Chief Administrative Judge for the city of Decatur.
Tisha Tallman
President and CEO
GHCC
Ms. Tallman is the President & CEO of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (GHCC). In this capacity, she also leads the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Business Development Center. She is also a substitute Municipal Court Judge for the City of Decatur.
Recently, Ms. Tallman participated in a panel with four former Latin American Presidents at the Global Peace Business Forum in Atlanta, GA. In August 2012, Ms. Tallman was one of thirty participants in a roundtable discussion at the White House on transportation infrastructure through the White House Business Council American Economic Competitiveness Series. She participated in the APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) CEO Summit 2008 in Lima, Peru – a convening of Leaders of economies and senior business figures from across the Asia Pacific and the Americas. The Chamber was the only Hispanic chamber in the United States to participate. She was invited by the former President of Mexico Vicente Fox and the President of the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce to be a member of the Commission on North American Social and Economic Prosperity, as North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) approached the 15th year marks since its signing.
In addition, as President & CEO of the Chamber, Ms. Tallman has received a number of recognitions including, but not limited to: (upcoming) 2013 Women of Achievement of Academy YWCA of Greater Atlanta; 2012 Rolling Out’s Top 25 Women of Atlanta; 2010 Regional Advocate of the Year by the U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Authority; A Superwoman of 2010 by the Atlanta Tribune Magazine (March 2010); 100 Most Influential Atlantans by the Atlanta Business Chronicle (2009); High Heels in High Places Trumpet Awards 2009 from the Trumpet Foundation; Legends, Heroes and Heroines Award 2009 by the Spirit of Sweet Auburn Festival; Public Service Award 2008 by the Georgia Teachers for English as a Second Language (TESOL). And, under her leadership, the GHCC received a 2009 Legacy of Leadership Award from Spelman College.
She is the former Southeast Regional Counsel of MALDEF, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, a national Latino non-profit organization. She opened the southeast regional office in 2002. There she coordinated, supervised and lead the litigation, public policy advocacy and community outreach for 11 (eleven) states. While at MALDEF, Ms. Tallman was also the Interim D.C. Regional Counsel where she worked on national public policy issues affecting the Latino community.
In these capacities, she has appeared on panels, and international, national and local television and radio shows such as the BBC World Service, National Public Radio, Tavis Smiley MSNBC, Court TV, Fox Live, and CNN en Español, to discuss a wide range of legal and public policy issues affecting Latinos. She has also been quoted in national and local media print outlets such as Time magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the National Journal, and has authored editorials and articles.
Ms. Tallman has served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Minnesota. In that capacity, she served as a member of the Civil Rights Working Group Committee, an advisory committee to the then Attorney General Hubert “Skip” Humphrey III. In 1996, she became an Assistant St. Louis County Attorney where she prosecuted felony and homicide cases. In 2001, she became an adjunct law professor at the University of Minnesota Law School. She also served as a research and policy analyst while a Fellow at the Institute on Race & Poverty at the University of Minnesota Law School. As a public policy analyst, she worked on developing a theoretical framework for building sustainable coalitions between communities of color. She presented on the framework at the Aspen Institute Roundtable on Comprehensive Community Initiatives. In this capacity, she also served as a non-governmental organization delegate at the United Nations Conference held in Durban, South Africa in 2001.
Ms. Tallman has a Juris Doctorate from the University of Iowa College of Law and a dual degree in Political Science and Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Iowa.
She has been and continues to be affiliated with a number of organizations and institutions including: Honorary Host Committee member of the Hispanic National Bar Association Midyear Corporate Counsel Conference & 18th Annual Uvaldo Herrera National Moot Court Competition to be held in Atlanta March 2013; Regional Business Coalition (RBC) Board of Director; member of the Women’s Leadership Forum Advisory Board; member of the Women’s Forum of Georgia; member of the Georgia Hispanic Bar Association; member of the Georgia Bar Association; former member of the Development Authority of DeKalb County; former Georgia Chamber of Commerce Board of Director; former member Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education Board of Director; former member Junior Achievement – Georgia Board of Director; a former member of the Emory University Board of Visitors; a former member of the National Latino Advisory Committee of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America; a former Executive Board Member of the Harvard Journal of Hispanic Public Policy; a former member of the Board of Directors for Dia de la Mujer Latina; a former member of the Demography and Diversity Advisory Group of the Atlanta Regional Commission; and, a member Leadership Atlanta (Class ’05) (Leadership Atlanta – 2014 Co-Chair Regional and National Issues Day; 2013 Selection Committee; 2013 Strategic Session participant; 2006-2008 Co-Chair of the Black/Brown Issues Committee).
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