Governor Perdue Announces Executive Appointments

            ATLANTA - Governor Sonny Perdue announced today the following executive appointments to the Georgia Commission on Child Support. The Commission will conduct a comprehensive review of the state's child support guidelines, and will also determine whether adjustments to the child support obligation table are needed. The composition of the Georgia Child Support Commission is specified by House Bill 221.

Georgia Commission on Child Support

A. Quillian Baldwin Jr., 62, LaGrange, GA, Superior Court Judge Member— Baldwin serves as a Superior Court Judge in the Coweta Judicial Circuit.  He previously served in the Georgia State Senate for eight years and held the positions of chairman of the Judiciary Committee and vice-chairman of the Rules Committee.  He is a member of the First United Methodist Church of LaGrange where he is a past chairman of the administrative board.  He graduated with a bachelor's degree from North Georgia College. Following his service as an officer in the U.S. Army, Baldwin received a j uris d octorate degree from Mercer University.  Baldwin and his wife, Judy, have three children

Louisa Abbot, 49, Savannah, GA, Superior Court Judge Member— Abbot serves as a Judge of the Superior Court of Chatham County, Eastern Judicial Circuit.  She is President of the Georgia Bar Foundation, a member of the Board of the Georgia Commission on Dispute Resolution, vice-chairperson of the Special Committee on Family Law of the Council of Superior Court Judges and is a member of the board of curators of the Georgia Historical Society, the board of directors of Senior Citizens, Inc. and of the Savannah Chapter of Junior Achievement. She is the past president of the Savannah Bar Association and is on the incoming board of the Rotary Club of Savannah.  Abbot received  an  undergraduate degree at Augusta State University and a juris doctorate degree from the University of Georgia.  Abbot and her husband, Gil Stacy, have two children.

Tom Campbell, 65, Roswell, GA, Superior Court Judge Member— Judge Campbell serves as a Fulton County Superior Court Judge.  Campbell previously served in the Georgia State House of Representatives for over fifteen years. He is a member of the Roswell United Methodist Church and has previously served on the boards of the North Fulton Regional Hospital, the Roswell Rotary Club, the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce, the Northside Bank, the Roswell Visitors and Convention Bureau and the Chattahoochee Nature Center.  He received his undergraduate degree and his juris doctorate degree from the University of Georgia. Campbell and is wife, Martha, have one child and one grandchild.

Debra Bernes, 49, Marietta, GA, Appellate Judge Member— Judge Bernes serves as a Judge to the Georgia Court of Appeals. She previously served as the assistant district attorney for the Cobb County Judicial Circuit. Bernes is a fellow of the Lawyers Foundation of Georgia, a member of the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers, the Cobb Justice Foundation and the Lawyers Club of Atlanta. Bernes received a bachelor's degree and a juris doctorate degree from the University of Florida. Bernes and her husband, Gary Lee, have two children.

Seth Harp, 62, Midland, GA, Georgia State Senate Member— Harp represents the 29 th district in the Georgia State Senate. He serves as chairman of the Higher Education Committee and vice chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Harp is an attorney and owner of Harp & Associates. He is a former Captain with the United States Marine Corps and Assistant Staff Judge Advocate with the United States Naval Forces. He serves as a member of the NRA, Forest Farmer's Association, Sierra Club, Columbus Chamber of Commerce and the Ida Cason Callaway Foundation.  Harp received a bachelor's degree in pharmacy from Auburn University and a juris doctorate degree from Mercer University. Harp and his wife, Linda, have two children.

Joseph “Joe” Carter, 42, Tifton, GA, Georgia State Senate Member— Carter represents the 13 th district in the Georgia State Senate. He serves as a partner in the law firm Carter and Richbourg, L.L.P. Carter is a little league coach, a member of Leadership Tifton, a current board of trustees member of the Tifton-Tift County Public Library and a former president of the Tifton Bar Association.  Carter received an undergraduate degree from Valdosta State University and a juris doctorate degree from Mercer University. Carter and his wife, Rebecca, have two children.

Earl Ehrhart, 45, Powder Springs, GA, Georgia State House of Representatives Member— Ehrhart represents the 36 th District in the Georgia State House of Representatives and is currently serving his first term as chairman of the Rules Committee. Ehrhart serves as senior vice president of The Facility Group, Inc. He is the past Chairman of the Georgia Chapter of the American Legislative Exchange Council, a member of the Business and Labor Task Force and a member of the National Republican Legislator Association. Ehrhart will serve as Chairman of this Commission. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of Georgia. Ehrhart has two children.

Stanley “Stan” Watson, 51, Decatur, GA, Georgia State House of Representatives Member— Watson represents the 91 st House District in the Georgia State House Representatives. He serves as chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, chairman of Sports DeKalb Authority, district chairman of Soapstone Ridge Boy Scouts and a member of 100 Black Men of America. Watson is an active member of the New Piney Grove Missionary Baptist Church, where he serves as co-chairman of the Deacons Ministry and sings in the male c horus.  He received degrees in criminal justice from Columbia College and Georgia State University. Watson and his wife, Pam, have two children.

 Joy Hawkins, 45, Atlanta, GA, Member— Hawkins serves as the deputy chief operating officer in the Office of Governor Perdue. She previously served as a project coordinator for the Georgia Commission on Family Violence and as a policy analyst in the Senate Research Office and director of  the Senate Research  Office . She is a member of the State Bar of Georgia and a school council member at the Nancy Creek Theme School.  She received an undergraduate and juris doctorate degree from Georgia State University.  Hawkins has two children.

Sadie Fields, 60, Marietta, GA, Member— Fields serves as the state chairman of the Christian Coalition of Georgia. Fields is the Georgia liaison for the Washington-based Americans for Tax Reform. She was recently named by James Magazine as one of the 100 most powerful people in Georgia. She is a member of the Church of the Apostles. Fields attended Oglethorpe University. Fields is the mother of three and the grandmother of seven.

 Annetta Panatera, 50, Marietta, GA, Member— Panatera is an Information Technology Professional for IBM. She previously owned her own business in the retail food industry. Panatera wrote a successful grant that was used to create a Technology Center for disabled students. For many years she was actively involved in the support of homeless centers. She attended Ohio State University and California State University Bakersfield. Panatera and her husband, Larry, have five children.

R. Michael Key,  55 , LaGrange, GA, Member— Key serves as a part-time Juvenile Court Judge in Troup County. He is a partner in the law firm of Key, McCain & Gordy, P.C.  Key currently serves on the board of trustees of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and is a past president of the Georgia Council of Juvenile Court Judges. Key received a bachelor's degree in general business from Troy State University, a master's degree in business administration from Auburn University and a juris doctorate degree from Emory University. Key and his wife, Melanie, have two children.

Charles Commander “Chuck” Clay, 54, Marietta, GA, Member —Clay is a practicing attorney and partner in the law firm of Brock, Clay & Calhoun, P.C., a law firm specializing in corporate, governmental affairs, education and healthcare matters. Clay is a former assistant district attorney and county commissioner in Cobb county.  He served six terms in the Georgia State Senate from the 37 th District.  Clay is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina and earned his juris doctorate degree from the University of Georgia. Clay and his wife, Sara, have five children.

John Clayton Thomas, PhD, 60 , Marietta, GA, Member— Thomas serves as a professor at Georgia State University in the Public Administration and Urban Studies Department of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies.  With three books and more than fifty articles in print, Thomas is known internationally for his research on public administration and urban affairs. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Minnesota and his doctorate from Northwestern University.  Thomas and his wife, Marilyn, have two children

Roger C. Tutterow, 42, Vinnings, PhD, GA, Member— Tutterow serves as the chairman and professor of the Department of Economics and Finance at Kennesaw State University as well as director of the Econometric Center. His work at the Econometric Center has been cited in  the media including The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, The Atlanta Journal & Constitution , The Atlanta Business Chronicle , CNN , NBC and CNBC . He previously served as an economic advisor to the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association and chief economic advisor to the Henssler Financial Group. T utterow serves on the Governor's Council of Economic Advisors, a member of the board of visitors at Berry College, the board of directors for Community Bank of West Georgia, the board of governor's for the Vinings Club and the advisory board for Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Atlanta. He received his bachelor's degree in decision science from Berry College, a master's degree and a Ph.D. in economics from Georgia State University.