Judge Render M. Heard, Jr. is currently the Judge of the Juvenile Courts of the Tifton Judicial Circuit where he has presided over cases involving children in Tift, Worth, Turner and Irwin Counties since 2012.
Judge Heard graduated from Mercer University’s Walter F. George School of Law with his Juris Doctor degree in 1997. Prior to that, he completed his undergraduate curriculum at Mercer University’s College of Liberal Arts in 1992 where he was a member of Beta, Beta, Beta and Alpha Epsilon Delta Honor Societies earning a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Biology.
After graduating law school, Judge Heard moved to Tifton, Georgia and began a private practice concentrating in general and family law litigation. From 2000 to 2004, he served as Assistant Solicitor General for the State Court of Tift County. In 2004, he was appointed as a Special Assistant Attorney General to represent the Georgia Department of Human Resources in child abuse and neglect cases. Prior to that time, he served as a parent attorney and guardian ad litem for children involved in juvenile and superior court matters.
Judge Heard is married to the former Stacey Lamb of Tifton, and they have three children, Grant, Alexandria, and Gabriella. They reside in Tifton where they are active members of the First Baptist Church of Tifton.