Preston W. Smith, a Rome Republican, was first elected to the Georgia Senate from northwest Georgia’s 52nd District in 2002.

Sen. Smith currently serves as the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and sits on the Appropriations Committee and Health and Human Services Committee. Additionally, Sen. Smith is the Secretary of the Retirement Committee and also is a member of the Redistricting and Reapportionment Committee. He previously served as an Administration Floor Leader for Governor Sonny Perdue in the Senate.

Sen. Smith is a seventh generation Georgian, and attended Baylor University on an academic/leadership scholarship where he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration with a major in management and a minor in corporate communications. While at Baylor, Smith was inducted into the Management National Honor Society.

Sen. Smith earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Georgia College of Law. While at UGA, Smith served as the Chief Justice of the UGA Law School Honor Court, was ranked
among the top ten orators at the ABA National Moot Court Competition, and served in the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s office in the prosecutorial clinic. Sen. Smith currently
works as an attorney and partner with the Rome, GA law firm of Cox Byington, P.C.

Sen. Smith is chairman of the Legislative Oversight Committee of the statewide Public Defenders Standards Council overseeing Georgia's new criminal defense system for the indigent. He also is the Chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee overseeing the budgets of the Judiciary, and served on the State Bar of Georgia's ‘Committee on Legislation’ and the State Bar's ‘Commission on Judicial Service’ as well as the ‘Georgia Supreme Court Committee on Legal Education.’

Active in community affairs, Sen. Smith is a member of the Rome Rotary Club and the local Chamber of Commerce. He has served on several non-profit boards including the Northwest Georgia Sexual Assault Center and DisABILITY Link. He previously hosted "Preston Smith Live," a daily radio talk show, and has served as a conference and retreat speaker as well as teaching courses as an adjunct instructor at Georgia Highlands College (formerly "Floyd College") in Rome.

Sen. Smith is a life member of the Lawyers Foundation of Georgia. He is also a life member of the American Swiss Foundation to foster and build ongoing relationships with the country of Switzerland. He is a 2005 graduate of Leadership Georgia, and a 2006 graduate of the Coverdell Leadership Institute.

In 2004, Georgia Trend magazine recognized Sen. Smith as one of the 40 most prominent leaders in Georgia under the age of 40. He also was named to the list of 21 rising star lawyers in
Georgia by The Fulton County Daily Report.

In 2005, the Atlanta Business Chronicle recognized Sen. Smith on their list of "Who's Who" of Georgia leaders in the fields of law and business and in January of 2006, the Senator was named to the list of the ‘100 Most Influential Georgians’ by Georgia Trend magazine. In 2007, he was again named by Georgia Trend magazine to their list of ‘Most Notable Georgians,’ and has been recognized as ‘Legislator of the Year’ by the Georgia Republican Party in 2004 and by various
other organizations since he took office.

Sen. Smith currently represents the 52nd Senatorial district which includes all or parts of Bartow, Floyd and Gordon counties. Sen. Smith may be reached via email at
Preston.Smith@senate.ga.gov or at his Capitol office at 404-656-0034.

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