Gov. Brian Kemp has appointed Liberty County native Richard E. “Richy” Braun Jr. as the district attorney for the Atlantic Judicial Circuit.

Braun fills the vacancy created by the appointment of Billy Joe Nelson to the Superior Court of the Atlantic Judicial Circuit.

Braun is a lifelong resident of the Atlantic Judicial Circuit and a seventh-generation Liberty Countian. He currently serves as the solicitor general of McIntosh County and the deputy chief assistant district attorney for the Brunswick Judicial Circuit.

He has also served as the city manager for the City of Darien and as a partner in the law firms of Braun and Braun LLP and Jones Osteen and Jones. In private practice, Braun represented numerous financial institutions, local governments, and governmental entities including the City of Hinesville, McIntosh County, the City of Darien, the City of Midway, and the McIntosh County Board of Education.

Braun began his legal career as an assistant district attorney in the Atlantic Judicial Circuit. 

Braun received his Bachelor of Business Administration, magna cum laude, from Georgia Southern University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Mississippi School of Law.

Braun and his wife, Jennifer, reside in Darien and have six children. 

The office of District Attorney is up for election this year and a special primary will be held in November. Braun and current Atlantic Judicial Circuit assistant district attorney Laurie Baio have qualified to run for the seat.