Judge John H. Graham

Judge John H. Graham is Presiding Circuit Judge in the Thirty-Eighth Judicial Circuit of Alabama.  He was appointed Circuit Judge in 2006 and has thrice been reelected without opposition.  Judge Graham founded the Jackson County Drug Court, a state- and nationally-recognized model accountability court.  His Drug Court received two Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb Awards for Excellence in 2015, as well as the Drug Court Association Award for Community Inclusion in 2024.  

Judge Graham revitalized and modernized local court procedures, including dedicated domestic violence dockets; virtual criminal dockets to expedite release of jail inmates; restitution recovery dockets; technology and audio-visual hardware and software upgrades; improved courthouse security measures; standard parent-child visitation schedule; comprehensive worker’s compensation mediation; standardized divorce pre-trial court orders to expedite hearings and protect children; dedicated monthly civil and criminal motion hearings; aggressive enforcement of child support orders; and led the State in creatively holding court on-line, virtually, and even outdoors during the Covid-19 pandemic.   

The Judge has a history degree from Berea College in Kentucky, where he now serves on the Alumni Executive Council, and a law degree from the University of Alabama School of Law.  He is an Episcopalian, a gardener, an amateur historian, and an outdoorsman. He is married to Angela Redmon Graham, and they live in his hometown, Stevenson, Alabama, in the 1850 Greek Revival, National Register of Historic Places-listed community landmark that the Grahams rescued from destruction.  They have two adult children.

Aside from his own family, Judge Graham states that his proudest accomplishment is helping the more than 300 graduates of his Drug Court—which has a 90% success rate—conquer addiction, return to productive citizenship, and reuniting the more than 275 minor children of those graduates with their parents.