George Langford

George R. Langford was born and raised in Thomasville, Georgia, and is married with two sons. He served as combat sergeant with the Corp. of Engineers in France during World War II. He attended Thomasville High School, graduating in June 1942. He received undergraduate and graduate education at the University of Virginia from which he graduated with Juris Doctor in 1950.

He is the Founder and Chairman of the Board of Municipal Code Corporation, a legal publishing firm, serving over 3,500 municipalities throughout the United States. Other business experiences include former member of Board of First Florida Bank, Charter member and former Director of the Florida State Bank, and a variety of real estate investments.

He attended St. John’s Episcopal Church; served as senior warden, vestryman and Sunday school teacher until creation of St. Peter’s Anglican Church, where he now worships.

Civic contributions include Chairman of Board of Directors of Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce where he organized Leadership Tallahassee, a program designed to foster growth of young potential leaders; President of Seminole Boosters, Inc., for three years, as well as originator of the Golden Chiefs organization and served three years as its president; Member of FSU President’s Club; Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the FSU Foundation; Charter member and President of Springtime Tallahassee, elected “Andrew Jackson”, honorary figurehead representing Springtime Tallahassee; Charter member and member of the Board of Directors of Maclay School; Chairman of the United Way Fund; Chairman of Board of Monticello Opera House; Organizing member and Board Member of The Governor’s Club; State director of Orange Bowl Committee; Retired Kiwanian; Former State of Florida Chairman of Capitol Center Planning Commission; Member of Board of Directors and Executive Committee of Florida Tax Watch; Board member, Vice Chairman, Florida Citizens Against Crime;

Special Awards and Honors include Trailblazer Award (second recipient), presented by the Thomasville, GA Chamber of Commerce to individuals who have made a significant contribution to the Thomasville community; Andrew Jackson, elected by members of Springtime Tallahassee as the figurehead to represent the pageant; FSU Hall of Fame, for service to the Athletic program; Golden Circle Award, bestowed by the FSU Alumni Association to individuals who have made a significant impact on FSU; Doctor of Humane Letters, granted by FSU for service to the University; Commencement Speaker to FSU graduating class of 1988; Torch Award-Vires, granted by FSU Faculty Senate for outstanding contribution to academic advancement; Sports Hall of Fame, Thomasville, GA (inaugural inductee along with Charlie Ward, 1993), for being in the backfield of high school state championship football team; 1989 Entrepreneur of Year, awarded by Ernest & Young to business people who have created successful and growing businesses.

Mr. Langford’s commitment to the Tallahassee community is demonstrated through the above cited organizations on which he served in a leadership capacity, many times as Chairman and almost always in a time of financial need.

He is a “builder;” rarely does he join an organization that does not undergo some significant change as a result of his leadership. For example, creating the Golden Chiefs, which raised enough money to rescue the FSU football program or starting a bank (Florida State Bank) or a private K-12 school (A.B. Maclay, Jr. Day School) or a social club (Governor’s Club). Most of the organizations affected by Mr. Langford’s enthusiasm continue as examples of how to be the best.

A. Lawton Langford

Lawton Langford is President and CEO of Municipal Code Corporation (Municode). Municode is the nation’s leading codifier of local government ordinances, and serves more than 3,500 cities and counties in 50 states. The company is considered a leader in publishing (electronic and hard copy) looseleaf documents. Mr. Langford also serves as Managing Director of Municodei, LLC, a subsidiary of Municode that offers document and agenda management technology to its local government client base.

Other business interests of Mr. Langford’s are Premier Bank, which he helped to organize in 1994 and serves as Chairman; and Avocare, which is a medical technology company that has invented an automated dispenser of prescription medications and written Health Information Exchange software. Mr. Langford serves as Avocare’s Chairman.

Mr. Langford’s civic involvement has included serving as Chairman of the Young Presidents Organization, Maclay School Board of Trustees, Tallahassee Community College Board of Trustees, the Seminole Boosters, Inc and the United Way campaign for eight counties; and as director for Tall Timbers Research Station, the Community Foundation of North Florida, the School of Information Studies Advisory Board and Goodwill. Additionally, he participated in Leadership Tallahassee, Class I, and Leadership Florida, Class V.

Mr. Langford’s education began in Tallahassee at Maclay School where he received a diploma in 1975. He attended Vanderbilt University, graduating in 1979 with a double major in Economics and Business Administration. His post-graduate degrees are a Juris Doctor from the FSU College of Law and a Masters of Business Administration from the FSU College of Business, which degrees he received in 1982. He is a member of the Florida Bar.

He has been happily married for 26 years, has a son and a daughter, and is a member of the Trinity United Methodist Church.

J. Ben Watkins, III

Mr. Watkins was appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Cabinet as Director of the State of Florida Division of Bond Finance in July of 1995 and reappointed by Governor Bush in January, 1999. The Division of Bond Finance is responsible for issuing bonds for the State of Florida and advising on debt management policies for the State. The Division administers bonding programs for the Departments of Education, Transportation, Environmental Protection and Management Services as well as borrowings for the State University System, Florida Turnpike System, Florida Prison Financing Corporation, and the State Comptroller’s consolidated equipment financing program. The Division is also responsible for allocating the private activity bond volume cap, maintaining a local government reporting system for bond issues, calculating federal arbitrage rebate liabilities and developing a system to insure compliance with the SEC’s secondary market continuing disclosure requirements. Mr. Watkins advises on legislative and financial issues involving various new financing programs such as the securitization of the tobacco settlement payments, leveraging the State revolving loan fund for wastewater facilities, financing the underground storage tank clean-up, Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, and privatizing the Special Disabilities Trust Fund.

Prior to joining the Division, Mr. Watkins practiced law with Asbill & Brennan in Atlanta, Georgia. His practice area was concentrated in public finance and he has extensive experience as bond counsel, bank counsel and underwriter’s counsel on taxable and tax-exempt financings.

EDUCATION:

Mr. Watkins received his undergraduate degree in accounting from Auburn University in 1979 and worked as a Certified Public Accountant with Peat Marwick. He went on to attend the University of Florida’s College of Law in 1984 and has been a member of the State Bar of both Florida and Georgia since 1987.

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS:

Former Member of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board
National Association of State Treasurers – former member of Executive Board
Muni Council – representing the National Association of State Treasurers since 2002
Government Finance Officers Association – former co-chair of several committees
Florida Government Finance Officers Association
National Association of Bond Lawyers

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES:

Governor's Mentoring Program
Treasurer, Friends of Leon County Library
Coach 10-12 year old Girls Volleyball and T-Ball
Florida Forest Stewardship Advisory Committee
Florida Council for Advisors for Research and Extension in Natural Resources
Leon County School District Capital Improvement Review Team (CIRT) - Finance Chair
Leon County School District CIRT Citizen's Oversight Committee - Chair