Mike Fellows Announces that He Will Be a Candidate for Lee County Family Court Judge, (Circuit Judge, Place 3)

For Immediate Release, Saturday, July 18, 2009

Well over a hundred supporters converged on an Opelika Restaurant Friday night as Lee County Family Court Referee Mike Fellows announced that he will be a candidate for Lee County Family Court Judge. The position is currently held by Judge Richard Lane who is expected to retire at the end of this term.  The event was dubbed a kick off for the “Fellows for Family” campaign.

Fellows is a graduate of Auburn High School, Auburn University and The University of Alabama School of Law.  He has been a practicing attorney in Lee County for 12 years.  He is a partner at the law firm of Gullage, Tickal & Fellows in Opelika.

In 2003 Judge Lane appointed Mike Fellows to serve as a Family and Juvenile Court Referee- a part time judicial post.  For the last two years he has served as the primary Referee.  For over six years, Fellows has heard and made findings of fact as a Referee on cases affecting children and families throughout Lee County. With this move he is taking his part time passion and seeking to make it a full time service.

“As a Family and Juvenile Court Referee, I preside over cases involving boys and girls and moms and dads that haven’t reached their potential because they’ve been distracted from the right path or because they’ve just never been shown the right path,” said Fellows.  “I am seeking the position of Family Court Judge to continue in what I’ve come to see as a ministry of service to those who find themselves in the worst of circumstances, which I believe affects the whole of Lee County.”

Fellows plans to build on the strong foundation laid by Judge Lane in the Lee County Family Court.  “As Lee County’s next Family Court Judge, I pledge to:

• Utilize my experience hearing, deciding, and making findings of fact in thousands of cases in the Lee County Family Court over the past 6 years.
• Rule in a way that seeks to strengthen families and assure that children are protected.

• Keep families together whenever possible and helping them to protect and provide for their children when it is not.
• Apply the law as it written to the facts in each case and avoid legislating from the bench.
• Maintain my commitment to fairness and finding a just resolution to the cases before me.
• Continue the Character In Action program begun by Judge Lane.

In addition to his six years of experience as a Family and Juvenile Court Referee, Mike Fellows has served as a prosecutor for the cities of Opelika and Camp hill.  He served on the staff of then Congressman Bob Riley in Washington and later volunteered to serve as an Attorney for the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on the Constitution.  He has been a member of the Lee County Republican Executive Committee for 7 years and a member of the Alabama Republican State Executive Committee for 3 years.  In addition, Fellows serves as a Board Member for East Alabama Youth for Christ and The Way Ministries.

Mike Fellows is married to the former Carrie Hinds and they have four children.  They are active members of Lakeview Baptist Church in Auburn.  Click here for News Article