In a quiet and unexpected departure, Bradford L. Rigby resigned as District Attorney of the Cordele Judicial Circuit following a primary election defeat with four months remaining in his elected term of office.
The news of Rigby’s exodus has largely gone unreported despite a resignation letter dated July 29 and an actual departure on August 21.
TheGeorgiaVirtue obtained a copy of Rigby’s resignation letter through an Open Records Request to Gov. Brian Kemp’s office. The one-page letter, dated July 29, made the resignation effective Friday, Aug. 21. In it, Rigby wrote that he had decided “it is the appropriate time for me to step down” and pursue “the next chapter of my professional and personal life.” The letter did not state a reason or reference a new position. Rigby noted his resignation also vacates his appointed seat on the board of the Georgia Commission on Family Violence.
But Rigby assumed a new role, complete with a rather public announcement, that still left his vacation out of the spotlight.
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In a post on its official Facebook page on August 26, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia announced that Rigby was sworn in as an Assistant United States Attorney in the office’s Criminal Division on Monday, Aug. 24, 2026, at the federal courthouse in Albany. According to the post, he joined the office’s Albany team along with Christian Bryant and Whitney Bradford, both former prosecutors from the Cordele Judicial Circuit.
Primary Defeat
While serving as Chief ADA, he was appointed as district attorney in 2016 by then- Governor Nathan Deal after Denise Fachini left to run for a Superior Court judgeship. He ran unopposed in 2016 and 2022.
Rigby lost his bid for a new term in the May 19 Republican primary, the first contested election of his tenure.
The primary drew attention to a backlog of pending cases in the circuit. A WALB News 10 investigation identified more than 4,200 unindicted or pending criminal cases across the four-county circuit. A February 2026 open records request revealed nearly 1,400 unindicted cases potentially subject to dismissal because the statute of limitations had expired. As of January 2026, the circuit had more than 4,000 warrants awaiting indictment.
Challenger Lyndsey Walters, a Ben Hill County attorney making her first run for office, defeated Rigby with 3,256 votes over Rigby’s 2,718. Rigby carried Crisp County while Walters won Ben Hill, Dooly, and Wilcox. With no Democrat in the race, Walters will take office on January 1, 2027.
Acting District Attorney
The Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia lists Brandon Faircloth as Acting District Attorney for the circuit. Since Rigby’s term does not end until December 31, 2026, Governor Kemp has the authority to fill the vacancy, if he sees fit.
As of publication, he had not announced an appointment for the Cordele Judicial Circuit, where any appointee would serve only until Walters takes office January 1, 2027. Kemp also has the authority to appoint Walters to the post.
