City Solicitor & Municipal Judges
Trina G. Dargin
Court Administrator, Clerk of Court
Johns Creek, GA 30097
City Solicitor
The office of the solicitor’s prosecutes city code and traffic violations on behalf of the City of Johns Creek. The Solicitor’s Office Mission is to process these cases with fairness, integrity, and justice in a manner that emphasizes customer service.
Larry Delan, City Solicitor
Mr. Delan graduated from Emory Law School in 1993. He worked for the DeKalb County Solicitor’s Office as an Assistant Solicitor from 1993 to 1996. In 1996, he moved to the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office where he acted as Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney until 1999. Mr. Delan has been in private practice since that time with the firm Green & Delan, LLC. He has been the solicitor of the City of Johns Creek City since January 2015.
Solicitor Pre-Trial Diversion Programs
- Teen / Young Adults (17-20)
- Adults (21 and older)
Program Requirements
- First time offender
- Clean driving record
Program Conditions
- Diversion program fee
- Monthly supervision fee
- Restitution (if any)
- Community Service (501c3)
- Defensive Driving Course (in person)
- Random alcohol / drug screens
- Handwritten educational essay (offense related topic)
- D.R.I.V.E. court program
- Alive @25 course
- M.A.D.D. victim impact panel
- Theft & Shoplifting seminar
- Anger Management
- Compliance hearing
Program Benefits
- No record
- Case is dismissed
- Avoids license suspension
The diversion programs provide an option that allows the court to balance punishment with education and deterrence.
Municipal Judges
Johns Creek Municipal Court holds court two times a week. Each judge was appointed and approved by City Council.
Donald Schaefer, Chief Judge
Don Schaefer is in private practice in Roswell after 26+ years practicing in the Decatur law firm of Brownlow and Schaefer, specializing in traffic and criminal law, as well as wills and estates.
He served in the Atlanta City Court as a bailiff and clerk from 1980-86 and then as a Judge Pro Hac Vice from 1994-2003. In addition to Atlanta, he has been a part-time judge in Alpharetta, Loganville, and DeKalb Recorder’s Court. He currently sits as judge in Johns Creek and Sandy Springs.
Schaefer is currently a member of the State Bar of Georgia, the North Fulton Bar Association, and the Council of Municipal Court Judges.
Jenny Nguyen, Associate Judge
Judge Jenny Nguyen was the first Asian American woman to serve as a judge in the cities of Morrow, Forest Park and Johns Creek and the first Vietnamese American woman to serve as a Municipal Court Judge in Georgia. She has practiced law for more than 13 years and currently sits as a judge in Johns Creek, Morrow, and Forest Park.
In 2021, Judge Nguyen was recognized as an AAPI legal trailblazer by the Georgia Asian Pacific American Bar Association and was a recipient of the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 40 Under 40 Award. She was previously recognized as one of Georgia Asian Times’ 25 Most Influential Asian Americans. Judge Nguyen is heavily involved in the community and spends a lot of time putting together seminars and educational videos to teach the community about the laws. She also mentors those who aspired to pursue a career in law. She served as the President of the National Conference of Vietnamese American Attorneys (NCVAA) and was the Founding President of the Vietnamese American Bar Association of Georgia (VABA-GA).