Georgia County Leadership Academy

The Georgia County Leadership Academy is established by state law (O.C.G.A. 36-20-1) to provide training for newly-elected county commissioners prior to taking office. There is an oversight Board established by the law that governs this training and the Newly Elected Commissioners Conference, and the membership of the Board is also set by the law. Those members are: the commissioner of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs who chairs the Board; the director of UGA’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government; the director of the Governmental Training, Education and Development division of the Vinson Institute of Government; the president of ACCG; the executive director of ACCG, and two county commissioners appointed by the Governor.

Current Board members are DCA Commissioner Christopher Nunn; Rob Gordon, Director of the Vinson Institute of Government; Rusty Haygood, Associate Director, Governmental Training, Education and Development; Marc DeMott, Colquitt County Commissioner and ACCG President; Dave Wills, ACCG Executive Director; and the Governor's appointees, Michelle Morgan, Carroll County Chairman (reappointed by the Governor), and Sam Kitchens, Jones County Commissioner.

The Board worked with ACCG and CVIOG staff to develop the agenda for this year’s training conference.