configuration includes the city of Rome and with its new post-redistricting configuration will continue to

include Rome as well as additional precincts in Floyd County. Over the last six years, Katie has taken on a

number of leadership roles, including currently serving as Chairman of the Appropriations Human

Resources Sub-Committee and Vice-Chairman of the House Higher Education Committee. Katie also

serves on the Economic Development & Tourism Committee; the Energy, Utilities & Telecommunications

Committee; the Health and Human Services Committee; and the Rules Committee. In 2011, Katie served

as Chief Deputy Whip of the House.

In addition to her House leadership positions, Katie serves by appointment of the Speaker of the House on

the Coosa North Georgia Water Planning Council, Regional Transportation Roundtable, the Department of

Behavioral Health & Developmental Disabilities Coordinating Council, Recreational Authorities Overview

Committee, and the Anatomical Gifts Procedures Advisory Board. Previously, Katie served on the Special

House and Senate Joint Committee on Immigration Reform, the House Study Committee for Pain

Management and the Hospital Tax and Indigent Care Study Committee. She graduated from the Georgia

Legislative Leadership Institute and Emerging Political Leaders Program at Darden School of Business

Coverdell Leadership Institute.

Katie also works with regional and national leadership organizations, serving on the Southern Legislative

Conference’s Economic Development, Transportation & Cultural Affairs Committee and on the National

Conference of State Legislators’ Education Committee.

Prior to her service in the State House, Katie served two terms on the Rome City Commission serving in a

number of capacities, including Chairman of the Community Development Committee. From her position

on the city Commission, Katie gained statewide notoriety for her leadership on municipal issues. She

served as statewide co-chair of the Joint Workgroup on Economic Development for the Georgia Municipal

Association, the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia, and the Georgia Economic Developers

Association, and was an active member in the National League of Cities. She was also appointed to the

Governor’s Task Force on Local Transportation, helping improve roadways in Rome and around the state.

Katie’s elected service is only part of the way she has served her community. Katie has served on the

boards of numerous organizations including the Exchange Club Family Resource Center, as a trustee of

the Floyd Medical Center, and as President of the Floyd Healthcare Foundation. She is active in the Greater

Rome Chamber of Commerce, the Rome Symphony Orchestra, the Rome Junior Service League, and an

alumna of Leadership Rome. She is an active member of First United Methodist Church of Rome and a

member of the Northwest Georgia Emmaus Community. In 1990, Katie was named Child Advocate of the

Year by the Rome/Floyd County Commission on Children and Youth. In 1995, Katie was named a recipient

of the Heart of the Community Award. In 2003, the Exchange Club named its community volunteer award

after her and made her the first recipient of the Katie Dempsey Star Volunteer Award.

Katie is married to Lynn Dempsey, a native of Rome, and the couple has lived in Rome since 1974. Since

graduating from the University of Georgia with a degree in Early Childhood Education, Katie has helped

run two successful small businesses in our community. The Dempsey’s daughter, Corie, and her husband,

Andrew Swan, are the parents of their daughter Taylor and their son Patterson. Gaines, the Dempsey’s

son, and his wife, Amy, are the parents of their daughters Cade and Callie.