Jud Turner - State Government Relations Government Procurement, Regulatory Affairs

Jud guides Georgia360 clients through complex public policy issues in every nook and cranny of Georgia’s growing state government. Jud specializes in government relations in the state legislature and executive branch, with a particular focus on vendor representation, water policy, land use policy, and education policy. He also serves as Special Counsel to Governor Perdue on the Tri-State Water Wars and negotiations with each of Georgia’s neighbors over shared river systems.

Jud most recently served as Executive Counsel to Governor Sonny Perdue, where he advised the Governor on the full gamut of executive branch legal matters, including issues related to the state budget process, judicial appointments, government procurements, education policy, retirement pensions and other post employment benefits, ethics and litigation. Jud served as the Governor’s legal representative in negotiations with the US Army Corps of Engineers and US Fish & Wildlife Service regarding drought operations at the federal reservoirs of the ACF and ACT river basins. He was also heavily involved in negotiations between Governor Perdue and Governor Sanford regarding the creation of a joint maritime terminal port to be located on Georgia Department of Transportation land in Jasper County, South Carolina. Additionally, he helped formulate, draft and lobby the Governor’s Investing in Educational Excellence (IE2) package, resulting in its successful passage during the 2008 legislative session. During the 2006 legislative session, Jud was the principal architect and author of Governor Perdue’s comprehensive eminent domain reform package.

Prior to his work for the Governor, Jud served as General Counsel at the Georgia Department of Education from 2003 to 2005. As General Counsel, Jud worked closely with the department’s testing and technology divisions on the successful design and procurement of several sophisticated assessment and technology contracts, and helped direct the implementation of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, including the development of a single statewide accountability system for all Georgia public schools.

Jud received his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in Charlottesville, Virginia, and his undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia, in Athens, Georgia, where he served as president of the Student Government Association, graduating Phi Beta Kappa with highest honors in political science and economics. Jud lives in Griffin with his wife Courtney and two children.

Jud is based in our Atlanta office, and can regularly be found in state government offices, working to ensure Georgia360 clients have their voices heard effectively in major policy debates.