Kenneth Nix

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = Kenneth Nix

|birth_name = Kenneth Owen Nix

|birth_date = {{birth date|1939|10|04}}

|birth_place = Atlanta, Georgia, U. S.

|death_date = {{death date and age|2012|10|23|1939|10|04}}

|death_place = Austell, Georgia, U. S.

|office = Member of the Georgia House of Representatives from the 20-3 district

|preceded =

|succeeded = George W. Darden

|term_start = 1973

|term_end = 1982

|party = Republican

|spouse = {{marriage|Charlene Scroggs|1962}}

|children = 5

|alma_mater = Presbyterian College
Emory University

|occupation = Judge

}}

Kenneth Owen Nix (October 4, 1939 – October 23, 2012) was an American judge and politician. He served as a Republican member of the Georgia House of Representatives for the 20-3 district from 1973 to 1982 and as a judge on the state superior court from 1995 until his retirement in 2010, when he was chief judge.

Early life and education

Nix was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Helen Crawford Brown and Owen Nix.{{Cite web|url= https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/atlanta/name/kenneth-nix-obituary?id=25091884 |title=Kenneth Nix Obituary (1939-2012)|work=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|date=October 26, 2012|access-date=November 10, 2022}} He was raised in grove Park and attended West Fulton High School. After two years at Presbyterian College on a football and baseball scholarship,{{cite news |author=Myra Evans |url=https://www.ajc.com/news/judge-kenneth-owen-nix/AdTRxXSwcrWM7XKIKDCQVO/ |title=Judge Kenneth Owen Nix |newspaper=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |type=obituary |date=October 26, 2012 |access-date=November 15, 2022 }} he transferred to Emory University, where he earned his undergraduate degree in 1961 and his law degree in 1964.{{Cite web|url=http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/statreg-images/pdfs/1981.pdf|title=Georgia Official and Statistical Register: 1981–1982|publisher=Department of Archives & History, Office of the Secretary of State of Georgia|page=63|year=1981|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141112034140/http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/statreg-images/pdfs/1981.pdf |archive-date=November 12, 2014 }}

Career

After practicing law privately in Cobb County, Nix ran unsuccessfully in 1970 for a seat in the Georgia House of Representatives, then served as a judge in the city court of Smyrna, Georgia from 1971 to 1972, when he was elected to represent the 20-3 district.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/398776130/|title=Cobb Campaigns Racing Along|work=The Atlanta Constitution|date=October 31, 1976|access-date=November 10, 2022|page=17|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Closed access}} He served until 1982, being succeeded by George W. Darden.

In 1982, Nix was elected to serve as a judge for the state court's post 3 in Cobb County.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/399161896/|title=Cobb's court system sees new faces in 1982|work=The Atlanta Constitution|date=January 27, 1983|access-date=November 10, 2022|page=114|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Closed access}} In 1995, he was appointed by Governor Zell Miller to the state superior court, where he served until 2010, becoming chief judge; he retired after admitting to inappropriately touching two female members of his staff.{{cite news |author=John Gilooly |url=https://www.mdjonline.com/news/longtime-judge-nix-resigns-amid-claim-of-touching-co-workers-inappropriately/article_167d9e14-2d23-5d30-96d4-27c3d82388d2.html |title=Longtime judge Nix resigns amid claim of touching co-workers inappropriately |newspaper=Marietta Daily Journal |date=August 11, 2010 }}{{cite news |author=Debra Cassens Weiss |url=https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/a_chief_judge_resigns_after_admitting_inappropriate_bottom_flicks |title=A Chief Judge Resigns After Admitting Inappropriate Touching |work=ABA Journal |date=August 12, 2010|access-date=November 15, 2022 }}{{cite news |author1=Bill Torpy |author2=Bill Rankin |url=https://www.ajc.com/news/local/rash-judges-stepping-down-after-misconduct/ymkDqqwGdO6vfeE9FOFxEL/ |title=Rash of judges stepping down after misconduct |newspaper=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |date=August 23, 2010 |access-date=November 15, 2022 }}

Personal life and death

Nix married Lillian Scroggs in 1962; they had five children. He died in October 2012 of pancreatic cancer at Tranquility Hospice Care in Austell, Georgia, at the age of 73.{{cite news |url=https://www.mdjonline.com/news/judge-nix-remembered-for-humility/article_67b5ac83-ece1-5f96-9374-831e07a73ac6.html |title=Judge Nix remembered for humility |newspaper=Marietta Daily Journal |date=October 24, 2012}} Nix coached sports all his life; in 2013, a softball field was named in his memory.{{cite news |author=Carlton D. White |url=https://www.mdjonline.com/sports/field-to-be-named-for-nix/article_b70080ea-81f3-5682-9a8c-70703a178d9b.html |title=Field to be named for Nix |newspaper=Marietta Daily Journal |date=March 15, 2013 }}

References

Category:1939 births

Category:2012 deaths

Category:Politicians from Atlanta

Category:Republican Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives

Category:Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Georgia (U.S. state)

Category:Georgia (U.S. state) state court judges

Category:20th-century Georgia (U.S. state) state court judges

Category:Presbyterian College alumni

Category:Emory University alumni

Category:Emory University School of Law alumni

Category:20th-century members of the Georgia General Assembly