Governor Perdue Announces Executive Appointments

ATLANTA – Governor Sonny Perdue announced today the appointments of Steve Farrow to the State Board of Workers’ Compensation and Judge Rick Thompson as Chairman of the Board. 

The State Board of Workers’ Compensation is composed of three members who are appointed by the Governor for a term of four years.  The members serve as the three-judge appellate panel hearing the initial appeals from the orders of the administrative law judges.  They are also responsible for all regulatory functions of the Board and for promulgating policies and rules of procedure.  Judge Warren Massey is the third member of the Board.

             Brief biographies are provided below:

Richard S. “Rick” Thompson, 51, Gainesville, CHAIRMAN – Prior to his appointment to the State Board of Workers’ Compensation, Thompson was a partner at Drew, Eckl & Farnham, LLP. He is a former Administrative Law Judge with the State Board of Workers’ Compensation and served as United States Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. Thompson earned a bachelor’s degree and a law degree from Mercer University. He and his wife, Jennifer, have two children.

Stephen “Steve” B. Farrow, 52, Dalton – Farrow is an attorney with the law firm of Minor, Bell & Neal.  He is a member of the Dalton State College Foundation Board of Trustees and the Rotary Club of Dalton.  He previously served in the State Senate, representing the 54th District and as a member of the State Board of Transportation and the State Ethics Commission.  Farrow earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and a law degree from the University of Georgia School of Law.  He has two children.

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