In November 2004, Mary Margaret Oliver was re-elected to the Georgia General Assembly as Representative of House District 83. She now serves on the House Judiciary, Governmental Affairs, and Science and Technology Committees.

MARY MARGARET OLIVER, a native Georgian from Dekalb County, served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1987- 1992 and then was elected to the State Senate in 1992, where she served three terms and was re-elected in 2002 to the House. In July 1998, Oliver left the Senate to run for Lieutenant Governor and finished first from six challengers in the Democratic Party. She lost in a runoff to the second place finisher. Oliver earned a BA from Vanderbilt University and a law degree from Emory University. She served as adjunct professor at Emory Law School and an assistant professor of law at the Boston College Law School. Oliver formerly worked as a hearing officer for the Secretary of State's Joint Examining Board, and the Georgia Department of Medical Assistance, and was appointed to preside as an associate magistrate in the DeKalb County Magistrate Court. She presently divides her time between her law practice law in Decatur, Georgia, and the Barton Child Law and Policy Clinic at Emory University Law School, where she is a Visiting Professor.

When Oliver was elected to the Senate, she was appointed to chair the Judiciary Committee during her freshman term, a rare legislative distinction. During the 2004 Session, she was appointed Chair of the House Judiciary, and is the first person to serve as chair of both Judiciary Committees in the House and Senate and the first woman to ever serve as Chair of either Committee.

Oliver's legislative accomplishments include a package of child protection reform legislation, which cleared the way for police to work jointly with case workers in investigating child abuse complaints. It also required a judge's order before a child can be returned to a home where child abuse has occurred, and initiated significant reforms in the foster care system. She is also the author of a Georgia anti-stalking law. In addition, Oliver sponsored more than 30 pieces of business-oriented legislation, telecommunications reform, banking regulations, managed care legislation and worker's compensation reform. She has been honored for her legislative work by the National Association of Independent Business, the Georgia Municipal Association, the Parents Support Network, the Georgia Psychological Association, the American Association of Retired People, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, and was named a Woman of Achievement by the Atlanta YWCA.

State Office:	Legislative Office Building 18 Capitol Square, Suite 604 Atlanta, GA   30334
Email:	moliver@legis.state.ga.us
Phone:	404-656-0265
Fax:	404-463-2634

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