New Chief Assistant District Attorney Named In Cobb County

MARIETTA, GA — Cobb District Attorney Joyette M. Holmes has named veteran prosecutor John Pursley as her Chief assistant district attorney. Pursley has more than 18 years of experience as a prosecutor, including the last 10 years in the Cobb DA’s Office. Prior to his promotion, Pursley led the Accountability Courts unit.

Purlsey is a member of the Recovery Roundtable Leadership Council, which is a group of community leaders dedicated to fighting the opioid epidemic, and he participates with Restoring Lives Alliance, a not-for-profit organization that supports the work of the Accountability Courts in Cobb.

The chief assistant district attorney handles supervisory and administrative duties for the office, as delegated by Holmes. The Cobb DA’s office has 45 prosecutors and an annual budget of about $8 million. In 2018, the office took in more than 6,000 new felony cases.

Pursley earned undergraduate and Juris Doctor degrees at University of Georgia.

Holmes is Cobb's first African-American and female district attorney in history. Gov. Brian Kemp appointed her to fill the term of Vic Reynolds, who is now director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.