Governor Names Robert Highsmith To Judicial Nominating Commission

(11/29/07) Gov. Sonny Perdue has named Robert Highsmith, a partner in the Atlanta law firm Holland & Knight, to the Judicial Nominating Commission - the panel that weighs would-be judges and makes recommendations to the governor.

Highsmith was transition counsel to the governor after he won the 2002 election and then served as his deputy executive counsel. He also is a former member of the State Ethics Commission.

The panel is chaired by former Georgia Attorney General Michael Bowers. Other members: Attorney General Thurbert Baker, Karen E. Baynes, James B. Franklin, J. Allen Hammontree, William B. Hill Jr., James P. Kelly III, Michael J. Long, Leslie D. Mattingly, Claud L. McIver, Kenyon W. Murphy, Dan E. Ponder Jr., James W. Purcell, Robert S. Reeves, Michael C. Russ, Frank B. Strickland, Rebecca N. Sullivan and Emory A. Wilkerson.

Said Perdue: “My choice of Robert Highsmith as an appointment to the Judicial Nominating Commission is reflective of the importance I place in this esteemed panel’s mission to nominate judicial candidates with integrity, principle and a commitment to public service to serve the state of Georgia with distinction.”