REBECCA GRIST
BIBB SOLICITOR
MEET REBECCA
BIBB SOLICITOR GENERAL
January 1, 2013, Rebecca Grist became the first female Solicitor-General for Bibb County. With overwhelming support from the Macon Bar Association, Rebecca was elected without opposition and ran unopposed a second and third time in 2016 and 2020. Rebecca has met the challenges resulting from changes in the government structure, the pandemic, personnel expansion, technology and logistics with professionalism and efficiency.
Since taking office, Rebecca has worked diligently and innovatively to improve the office and better impact her community. She is recognized locally as well as statewide for her involvement and dedication to her profession and volunteer work.
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In 2018, Rebecca was named the Georgia Association of Solicitors-General's Solicitor-General of the Year. That year, she was also elected by her peers to be one of three SGs serving on the Prosecuting Attorneys Council. Rebecca is a past-president of the GASG and was recently elected as Treasurer of the Association.
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Rebecca represents her fellow attorney's as an elected member of the State Bar of Georgia Board of Governors. She is also an appointed member of the Georgia Bar Foundation which promotes access to justice state-wide.
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Rebecca spends time in Atlanta representing prosecutors to the Legislature as well as providing input on Victim Services issues on the statewide level. Rebecca works closely with the Prosecuting Attorney's Council as well as the Georgia Association of Solicitors-General concerning all misdemeanor legislation including Stalking and Domestic Violence, Traffic Law and DUI.
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Working in collaboration with the State Court Judges, Probation, her victim-witness team, and a grant writer, Rebecca was integral in launching a Domestic Violence Court in the State Court of Bibb County. The first grant provided funding for a dedicated Victim-Witness Assistant for domestic violence victims after the defendant's conviction. The second grant was a three-year grant from BJA implementing the Swift Certain and Fair method of probation to participants in the Domestic Violence Court. The program goal is to reduce recidivism by addressing the underlying causes of domestic violence the grant money will help remove many financial barriers to defendants successfully completing probation.
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Due to the pandemic, that grant was continued several years and will end in September 2024. Rebecca and her team are working on identifying grant funds to continue that Domestic Violence Court in some form due to its success.
Historical Information
In 2013 Rebecca became Solicitor on the eve of huge changes in our community. Macon-Bibb was on the verge of consolidation. With consolidation, the Solicitor assumed prosecutorial responsibility for Municipal Court resulting in a huge case increase. Assistant Solicitors now attend all court sessions and Rebecca has worked hard to improve efficiency and create better documentation of convictions.
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As a result of the increased prosecutorial responsibilities and other changes, Rebecca was able to bring office staffing in line with the workload and significantly reduced case disposition time. The office now has six assistant solicitor-generals, two investigators, a six person administrative support team and a four person victim-witness team.
The 2020 pandemic brought challenges no one could have anticipated. Rebecca and her team worked throughout that challenging time and unlike many in the State, never experienced a backlog of cases. Every court date that had to be postponed in the initial phases of the pandemic was made up within the first four months. All CDC Safety guidelines were followed. She and the Court pivoted all Jail Court proceedings to an online format. Many of the changes and efficiencies of the pandemic remain in place today.
Rebecca has been intensely involved in bringing about needed technological advances. Rebecca’s focus on these vital changes streamlined case management in the Solicitor’s Office. Additionally, Rebecca worked closely with other court and clerk leaders to evaluate and choose new case management software for Macon-Bibb County. This allows all participating courts to interface and increase efficiency.
Rebecca demonstrates leadership and fiscal responsibility in her office operations. She has grown her victim-witness team at very little cost to Macon-Bibb County by securing federal grants to fund all of those positions. 94% of the Solicitor-General's annual budget is comprised of personnel and benefit costs.