Presents

"Law and Order - Gwinnett"

Kristina Hammer Blum

Chief Magistrate
Gwinnett County Magistrate Court

Get an insider's view of the Justice System in Gwinnett County from the Chief Magistrate as Judge Blum addresses:

• Services provided by the Gwinnett County Magistrate Court
• Challendges facing Courts in modern Gwinnett
• Answers your questions about the court system in Gwinnett County

Kristina Hammer Blum was appointed Chief Magistrate of Gwinnett County on January 9, 2013.  She began her career in Magistrate Court as a part time Magistrate in 2005.  She was subsequently appointed as a full time Magistrate in 2009.  In prior years, she practiced law with several different law firms including Barnhart, O?Quinn & Williams, Hipes & Norton, and Williams, Morris & Blum (where she was a partner).  Although she practiced in a variety of areas, she spent the majority of her time in the federal courts, specializing in the representation of city and county governments and public officials.  Judge Blum came to the Magistrate Court from the Gwinnett County Law Department where she was a Senior Assistant County Attorney for 7 years.  In the Law Department, Judge Blum began her relationship with Magistrate Court as its lawyer, representing and advising the Court on policy issues and in litigated matters.  

Judge Blum is very active in the community.  She is on the Steering Committee for Leadership Gwinnett, a member of the Advisory Board for Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful, a member of the South Gwinnett Rotary Club, a member of the Advisory Board for the Gwinnett Reentry Intervention Program or ?GRIP,? and she has been her son?s Cub Scout den leader for three years.  Judge Blum is also a frequent speaker and instructor at law enforcement academies and for ICJE.

Off the bench, Judge Blum is an avid SCUBA diver.  She has logged over 250 dives all over the Caribbean and Pacific.  Her favorite hobby is underwater photography.  Her last big trips involved diving with hundreds of hammerhead, white tip, black tip and Galapagos sharks 360 miles off of the coast of Costa Rica and getting her 11 year old daughter SCUBA certified off of Andros Island in the Bahamas.  She has an extensive theatre and dance background; she even spent two years as a principal cast member of Second Base Improv Comedy Troupe.  

Judge Blum has been married for almost 20 years to love of her life, James Paul Blum, Jr., a partner with the Atlanta law firm of Beloin, Brown & Blum.  She has two hilarious and amazing children, Merritt and Corbin, a hyperactive American Bulldog named Madison, and she recently adopted a Chihuahua named Twinkie from the Gwinnett County Sheriff?s Department?s Jail Dog program.