Fani T. Willis is the District Attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, the state’s largest county and the home to over one million Georgians. It is home to most of the City of Atlanta, as well as many of the city’s suburban communities, including Sandy Springs, the City of South Fulton, and several smaller communities north and south of Atlanta. She is the first woman to serve in the position.

Fani took office on January 1, 2021, after ousting a longtime incumbent while campaigning on a commitment to both protect Fulton’s neighborhoods and reform Fulton’s criminal justice system by making it fairer, more transparent, and focused on reducing crime by changing lives rather than just seeking retribution. She also promised the people of Fulton that she would restore integrity and effectiveness to the office, and she has brought in a new team of highly experienced trial lawyers and civic leaders who are committed to making the Fulton County District Attorney’s office the best in the Southeast and one of the top local prosecutor’s offices in the United States.

Fani is a career trial lawyer with deep and broad prosecutorial experience. She has led over 100 jury trials and has prosecuted hundreds of murder cases. She has prosecuted many other serious crimes, including crimes against women and children. Fani’s nineteen years of experience as a prosecutor has given her a deep commitment to focusing her office’s prosecutorial efforts on the most dangerous offenders and removing them from society. Part of that commitment is making sure that her office’s efforts are focused on those cases while also bringing innovative reform to Fulton County’s criminal justice system that diverts offenders to a better life before they become a threat to the community.

As part of keeping her commitment to reform Fulton County’s criminal justice system, Fani has created Fulton’s first pre-indictment diversion program, which gives offenders who would benefit from a second chance the opportunity to earn one. She is partnering with community organizations to give those offenders, especially young people, the opportunity to gain life skills and the responsibility that comes from community service to have a better path forward than one marred by a criminal record.

Fani is also committed to reforming the office’s handling of cases involving the use of force by law enforcement officers. Before she took office, the Fulton County District Attorney’s office had a reputation for failing to announce decisions in such cases, and for keeping the public and police departments in the dark. She has created a new, transparent process that provides timely answers to families, the community, and police officers about decisions in such cases. She is committed to making those decisions based on the facts and the law and holding officers accountable when the circumstances warrant it.

Fani is a proud Bison, graduating from Howard University in 1992. She came to Georgia to attend Emory University School of Law, graduating in 1996. She chose to make Fulton County her home, and she lives in the City of South Fulton, where she had the honor of serving as Chief Judge of the municipal court.
She is the proud mother of two college aged daughters.