Shanelle Booker Becomes Acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia

MACON, Ga. – A life-long Georgian who has served as a federal prosecutor for the Middle District of Georgia in most of its major leadership roles—including as its Criminal Division Chief and First Assistant U.S. Attorney—is the new Acting U.S. Attorney, the first time a Black person and a Black woman has led the office.

C. Shanelle Booker became the Acting U.S. Attorney on Jan. 12, 2025, by virtue of the Vacancies Reform Act, and has served the citizens of the Middle District of Georgia as a federal prosecutor since 2015.

“It is an honor for me to serve the citizens of the Middle District of Georgia in this leadership role, and to ensure the good work of the office continues seamlessly,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Shanelle Booker. “Upholding justice and ensuring the safety of all is our office’s utmost objective, alongside our strong law enforcement and community partners across the Middle District of Georgia.”

Ms. Booker has prosecuted high-profile violent crime, child exploitation, sex trafficking, public corruption and fraud cases in the Middle District of Georgia. Since joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 2015, Ms. Booker has held nearly every major leadership role, including Elder Justice Coordinator, Criminal Civil Rights and Hate Crimes Coordinator, Deputy Criminal Division Chief, Criminal Division Chief, Acting Administrative Officer and as the First Assistant U.S. Attorney.

A resident of Macon, Georgia, Ms. Booker is active in the community with a special focus on volunteering with young people, including mentoring juvenile girls committed to the Macon Regional Youth Detention Center through the Girl Squad Mentoring Program and the United Way of Central Georgia’s Read United Program, a comprehensive literacy program focused on school-based, grade-level reading support and tutoring. Ms. Booker also works with Just the Beginning Foundation to inspire law careers among underrepresented students and volunteers with the Georgia High School Mock Trial Competition. She is a member of Bibb Mount Zion Baptist Church, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and is a former board member of the Central Georgia Empowerment Fund, a philanthropic fund that seeks to build capacity and financial sustainability of non-profit organizations that serve the Black community and address the most pressing needs facing Blacks in the Central Georgia region.

Ms. Booker is an adjunct professor at Mercer University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, where she has taught criminal justice classes since 2020. Ms. Booker also regularly leads critical training for the law enforcement community on topics including firearm conversion devices and machineguns; fentanyl and armed drug trafficking; hate crimes; elder abuse and other major areas of concern, sharing her expertise as a seasoned prosecutor.

Raised in Riverdale, Georgia, and a graduate of Clayton County Public Schools, Ms. Booker received her B.A. from Hampton University, magna cum laude, and J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law. After law school, Ms. Booker clerked for U.S. District Judge Brian Miller of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. Following her clerkship, Ms. Booker served as a state public defender and managing attorney in the Brunswick Judicial Circuit Defender’s Office where she represented indigent people charged with felony crimes in Brunswick, Georgia.

As Acting U.S. Attorney, Ms. Booker is the top-ranking federal law enforcement official in the Middle District of Georgia, which covers 70 of Georgia’s 159 counties, includes Albany, Athens, Columbus, Macon and Valdosta, and has a population of approximately 2,045,000 people. The office is responsible for prosecuting federal crimes in the District, including crimes related to terrorism, public corruption, child exploitation, fraud, firearms, illegal gangs and narcotics. The office also defends the United States in civil cases and collects debts owed to the United States.