Acting Cobb County District Attorney John Melvin will soon follow his former boss, Vic Reynolds, to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Melvin, who as of Monday became Cobb's acting district attorney, said he will work as chief of staff under Reynolds, who Gov. Brian Kemp has named as the director of the GBI.
“It’s just a top notch organization, and I really can’t wait to get over there and help them out with the governor’s initiative to attack the gang crisis in the state,” said Melvin, who served as Reynolds’ chief assistant district attorney.
Melvin said the office’s plan of succession calls for the chief assistant district attorney to lead the department, so this change in responsibility wasn’t a surprise. Melvin will serve until Kemp appoints a new district attorney to serve out the remainder of Reynolds’ term. Melvin has been with the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office since 2013 and specializes in prosecuting elder abuse and white collar crimes.
Jesse Evans will also continue his service as chief assistant district attorney. Evans, who was raised in Cobb, has been the major crimes/homicide prosecutor since 2006. He was named deputy chief to the chief assistant district attorney in 2016, the Cobb County District Attorney's Office added on its Facebook page.
READ | Incoming GBI head pledges transparency and aggressive stance on gangs
Melvin said his tenure, which he said could be as short or as long as Kemp deems necessary, won’t bring any changes to the District Attorney’s Office’s mission in wiping out gangs and tackling elder abuse in Cobb County.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has reached out to Kemp’s office to see if the governor has a timeline on when he’ll make an appointment, but has not heard back from the office.
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