Governor to Appoint Rob Teilhet as Director of Georgia Public Defender Standards Council

ATLANTA -- Governor Sonny Perdue today announced that he will appoint State Rep. Rob Teilhet as Executive Director of the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council.

“Even more important than his legal and legislative experience, Rob brings to this position a passion for seeking justice and protecting Georgia’s citizens,” Governor Perdue said. “I am pleased that he has chosen to continue in public service and I appreciate his willingness to take on a difficult challenge.”

“The constitutional right to counsel is a promise to every Georgian that must be kept,” said Rep. Teilhet.  “I am humbled to be a part of such important work, and I look forward to working with the Council and others to ensure that Georgia protects this constitutional right in a way that delivers the best value to our clients and the taxpayers.”

Mack Crawford, the current executive director, will soon be sworn in as a Superior Court judge in the Griffin Judicial Circuit.  Teilhet’s appointment will be effective upon Crawford’s swearing-in as judge.

Rob Teilhet (pronounced tuh-lay) has represented Smyrna and Marietta in the Georgia House of Representatives since his election in 2002 at the age of 28.  Throughout his tenure in the House, he has served as a member of the Judiciary, Education, and Industrial Relations Committees.  He did not run for re-election this year.

Rob earned both his undergraduate and law degree from the University of Georgia. Rob and his wife Heather have twin daughters and live in Smyrna. Rob is a partner in the law firm of Rogers, Strimban & Teilhet in Marietta.

The Georgia Public Defender Standards Council is an independent agency within the executive branch of the state government of Georgia. The mission of the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council is to ensure, independently of political considerations or private interests, that each client whose cause has been entrusted to a circuit public defender receives zealous, adequate, effective, timely, and ethical legal representation, consistent with the guarantees of the Constitution of the State of Georgia, the Constitution of the United States and the mandates of the Georgia Indigent Defense Act of 2003; to provide all such legal services in a cost efficient manner; and to conduct that representation in such a way that the criminal justice system operates effectively to achieve justice.

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