Wilkerson,

a supervising lead attorney with State Farm Insurance Industries, ran

unsuccessfully for State Senate last fall.

A total of

18 members, all appointed by the governor, serve on the commission. In

the event of a judicial vacancy, the Commission will advertise the vacancy

and elicit applications of qualified persons to fill the vacancy and recommend

to the Governor a short list of individuals that it finds are qualified

for each judicial vacancy. The Commission was formed by Executive Order.

Other members,

in addition to Bowers and Wilkerson, are:

Thurbert Baker,

current Attorney General.

Karen Baynes,

director of the Carl Vinson Institute's Governmental Services Division

at the University of Georgia and a former associate juvenile court judge

in Athens.

James Franklin,

a partner with Franklin, Taulbee, Rushing, Snipes & Marsh, P.C. since

1973 in Statesboro; also a former State Bar President (2002) and former

nominee to Federal District Court.

Allen Hammontree,

a partner with Goddard, Thames, Hammontree & Bolding, LLC, in Dalton

and a former 3-term State Representative, serving on the House Judiciary

Committee and the Chief Justice's Indigent Defense Commission.

William Hill,

a partner with Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP in Atlanta and

former Superior Court Judge of the Atlanta Judicial Circuit.

Jim Kelly,

an attorney in private practice in Atlanta.

Ed Lindsey,

a founding partner with Goodman McGufey Aust & Lindsey, LLP in Atlanta.

Mike Long,

a partner with O'Neal Long & Hall in Warner Robins and County Attorney

for Houston County.

Leslie Mattingly,

a former master commissioner with the Indiana Superior Court.

Quincy McWilliams,

a community activist in Bogart.

Dan Ponder,

a former Georgia State Representative and recent 2003 Profile in Courage

Award winner in recognition of his passionate speech in support of hate-crime

legislation before the Georgia Legislature.

Bobby Reeves,

an attorney in private practice in Swainsboro.

Mike Russ,

a partner at King & Spalding in Atlanta, a Trustee of the Metropolitan

Atlanta Crime Commission, and a board member of Ministries to Women, a

home for battered women and their children.

Ralph "Rusty"

Simpson, a partner with Simpson and Cross in Tifton.

Frank Strickland,

a partner with Strickland Brockington Lewis, LLP in Atlanta and Chairman

of the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation.

Jerome Strickland,

an attorney with Jones, Cork & Miller in Macon.