Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner

Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner
General information
Office Type:	Partisan
Office website:	Official Link
Term limits:	None
Structure
Length of term:	4 years
Authority:	Georgia Code, 33-2-1
Selection Method:	Elected
Current Officeholder
Name:	Ralph Hudgens
Officeholder Party:	Republican
Assumed office:	January 10, 2011
Compensation:	$120,394
Elections
Next election:	November 4, 2014
Last election:	November 2, 2010
Other Georgia Executive Offices
Governor•Lieutenant Governor•Secretary of State•Attorney General•Treasurer•Auditor•Superintendent of Schools•Agriculture Commissioner•Insurance Commissioner•Natural Resources Commissioner•Labor Commissioner•Public Service Commission

The Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner is a state executive position in the Georgia state government. The commissioner heads the Georgia Office of Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner, which is responsible for regulating the state's insurance industry and ensuring fire safety in the state. The commissioner is elected to four year terms in federal midterm election years.

Current officeholder

The current commissioner is Ralph Hudgens, a Republican, who was first elected on November 2, 2010. He took office on January 10, 2011 and will come up for re-election, if he chooses to run, in November 2014.

Before becoming commissioner, Hudgens was a member of the Georgia State Senate from 2003 to 2011. Prior to his Senate election, he was a member of the Georgia House of Representatives from 1997 to 2002. Hudgens has two decades of experience working in the private sector, including as the founder of Quality Propane, Inc., which he sold in 1987.

Authority

The office of insurance commissioner, though mentioned in the Georgia Constitution, is formally established in state law.

Georgia Code, 33-2-1

There is created the Insurance Department of the State of Georgia. The chief officer of such department shall be the Commissioner of Insurance.

Qualifications

Per Article V, Section 3, Paragraph II of the Georgia Constitution, the commissioner of insurance must, at the time of his election:

• Have been a citizen of the U.S. for 10 years
  
• A legal resident of Georgia for four years
  
• 25 years old

Georgia Constitution, Article V, Section 3, Paragraph II

(a) No person shall be eligible to the office of the Secretary of State, Attorney General, State School Superintendent, Commissioner of Insurance, Commissioner of Agriculture, or Commissioner of Labor unless such person shall have been a citizen of the United States for ten years and a legal resident of the state for four years immediately preceding election or appointment and shall have attained the age of 25 years by the date of assuming office. All of said officers shall take such oath and give bond and security, as prescribed by law, for the faithful discharge of their duties.

Elections

The commissioner is elected "at the same time and hold[s] [his] office for the same term as the Governor."

Georgia Constitution, Article V, Section 3, Paragraph I

The Secretary of State, Attorney General, State School Superintendent, Commissioner of Insurance, Commissioner of Agriculture, and Commissioner of Labor shall be elected in the manner prescribed for the election of members of the General Assembly and the electors shall be the same. Such executive officers shall be elected at the same time and hold their offices for the same term as the Governor.

Term limits

There are no term limits for the office of insurance commissioner.

Vacancies

If a vacancy occurs, the governor fills it, subject to confirmation by a majority vote of the Georgia Senate. Vacancy procedures are laid out in Article V, Section 2, Paragraph VIII of the Georgia Constitution.

Duties

The commissioner is administrative head of the Office of Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner, which both regulates the state's insurance industry and oversees state fire safety initiatives.

Divisions

• Administrative Procedures
• Agents Licensing
• Computer Services
• Consumer Services
• Enforcement
• Life and Health
• Industrial Loan
• Premium Tax
• Property and Casualty
• Public Education
• Media Relations
• Regulatory Services
• Safety Fire Division
• Safety Fire Engineering and Inspections
• Safety Fire Hazardous Materials
• Safety Fire Health and Human Service
• Safety Fire Manufactured Housing

Compensation

In 2010, the commissioner received a salary of $120,394.

Contact info

Address:
Two Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive
West Tower, Suite 704
Atlanta, GA 30334
Phone: (404) 656-2070
Fax: (404) 657-8542

See also

• Insurance Commissioner
• Ralph Hudgens

External links

• Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance