By MONROE ROARK
Staff Writer

Local attorney Tarey Schell has been appointed associate Juvenile Court judge for the Griffin Judicial Circuit.

Schell's four-year appointment begins Aug. 3. His is a part-time position, supplementing the work of Judge Ronald Cook.

The Peachtree City resident, a partner in private practice with Glen Burn since 1993, has done a lot of juvenile court work and thus brings experience and interest to the job. He has served as a pro-tempore judge in the past, when Cook was unavailable.

Schell will work throughout the circuit, which includes Fayette, Pike, Spalding and Upson counties.

“As Judge Cook is the presiding judge, wherever he sends me is where I'll go,” he said.

While he is not certain how much more of his schedule will be taken up with his new duties, “Since I'm an associate now, I'm sure [Cook] will use me on a more regular basis [than as pro-tem judge],” he said. “It's something I think, through trial and error, we'll work out.”

Schell and his family moved to Peachtree City in 1980, near the end of his military career. After a final assignment at Fort McPherson, he retired after 23 years from the U.S. Army with the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1984 and began law school at Georgia State University.

A practicing attorney since 1990, he has four grown children and seven grandchildren with his wife Priscilla, a registered diabetes educator at Northside Hospital in Atlanta.

There's no way to know right now if his new job will ever be a full-time position, but Schell is ready to take it on with the fervor and attention it requires.

“It'll be a challenge,” he said. “That's for sure.”