Newton Citizen

Photo by Corinne Nicholson

ATLANTA -- Newton County Commission Chairman Kathy Morgan, District 3 Commissioner Nancy Schulz and District 5 Commissioner Tim Fleming recently joined other county officials from across the state at the annual Legislative Leadership Conference in Atlanta hosted by the Association County Commissioners of Georgia.

Morgan and Schulz were recognized for completing the ACCG Certified Commissioners Advanced Program.

ACCG offers training in conjunction with the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia and has educated more than 2,600 elected and appointed county officials in the last two decades.

"We continue to have strong participation in our training programs, which are designed to provide county officials with information on many key areas of local government operations including current trends and issues," said ACCG Executive Director Ross King. "We are extremely proud of this year's graduates who committed the time to complete these training programs."

The Commissioners Training Program requires county officials to take a total of 48 hours of instruction including five required courses and three elective courses. The Commissioners Advanced Program requires an additional 48 hours of course instruction as well as participation in a two-day Advanced Leadership Institute and the completion of a summary project report.

"The Legislative Leadership Conference serves as the culmination of ACCG's consensus building policy development process and brings county officials together to vote on the County Platform, which outlines its position on legislative issues expected to come before the Georgia General Assembly and Congress," King said.