May 8th, 2008 by The Committee to Elect Rudjard Hayes for District Attorney

Veteran Prosecutor Rudjard Hayes qualified at the State Capitol last week to
challenge incumbent Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney Scott Ballard in the Republican Primary on July 15, 2008. The Griffin Judicial Circuit includes Fayette, Pike, Spalding and Upson Counties.Hayes said, “I’m running for District Attorney because the incumbent is not doing enough to protect our families against predators and child molesters. Our community needs an aggressive, tough prosecutor who will protect our families. The current District Attorney has failed for four years to aggressively prosecute these crimes. He needs to explain why he is not willing to prosecute child molesters to the full extent of the law.”As an assistant district attorney for 12 years, Hayes prosecuted hundreds of criminal cases, and has devoted much time to prosecuting those who prey on children. Hayes has never had a conviction reversed or overturned on appeal.

“The current District Attorney, Scott Ballard, has said that it is dangerous for a prosecutor to believe children are telling the truth when they say they were molested,” says Hayes. “this is not an acceptable attitude for a prosecuting attorney when it comes to these crimes. Children who are molested are often the only witnesses to these horrendous crimes. We must listen to them.”

Hayes says in 2005, Ballard, while serving as the District Attorney, traveled to South Georgia to personally testify on behalf of a man who was convicted of molesting five different children. Ballard called the convicted molester, “an outstanding guy,” saying the convicted molester was “worth taking a chance on.”

“I have children and I don’t believe we can take these kinds of chances when it comes to deciding whether or not to prosecute child molesters in our community” stated Hayes. “As District Attorney, I will take these cases very seriously and work to protect our families from such predators.”

Professionally, Hayes has served as a prosecutor in the Coweta and Griffin Judicial circuits for more than twelve years. He is an adjunct professor at Georgia State University and has served as a law enforcement instructor on search and seizure, investigating crimes against children, and prosecuting sex crimes.

Rudjard and his wife Lorraine Hayes have two children, Matthew, who attends the University of Georgia, and Olivia. Hayes coached Our Lady of Mercy High School’s Mock Trial Team for 4 years, and currently coaches Georgia State University’s Mock Trial Team. He has previously coached little league baseball and youth football, and is the recent recipient of the Justice Benham Award for Community Service.