A Georgia State Patrol supervisor will become the state’s next top emergency management official at the end of the year.
Gov. Brian Kemp announced Tuesday that Capt. Chris Stallings will take over the reins as director of the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency. Stallings will replace Homer Bryson, a nearly four-decade veteran of state government who will retire on Dec. 1.
Stallings currently serves as director of the Department of Public Safety’s Dignitary Protection Unit. He joined the department in 2008 as a trooper.
“Director Chris Stallings is smart, strategic, and I can tell you he is prepared for anything that comes his way,” Kemp said at a ceremony held at the agency’s Atlanta headquarters.
In the meantime, it will be a busy final few months for Bryson as his agency continues to distribute masks and other COVID-19 supplies and monitor an Atlantic hurricane season that is expected to be particularly punishing.
Bryson and his staff have delivered nearly 30 million masks and millions of gloves, surgical gowns and other protective gear to local hospitals, schools, and long-term care facilities.
“Homer has literally given his entire career to the state of Georgia,” Kemp said. “I will tell you that in every region of the state Homer is viewed as an effective and trustworthy public safety expert who puts others and their safety first.”
Stallings is set to become the fourth GEMA chief since 2014 and is the first one to be appointed by Kemp.
In 2016, Bryson left his role as commissioner of the Department of Corrections to become the emergency management director after Jim Butterworth stepped down. Butterworth’s predecessor, Charley English, left the agency amid criticism over his handling of the 2015 ice storm that rocked the Atlanta region.
Bryson said he delayed his retirement to work under Kemp, who became governor in 2018. The longtime state worker described running the agency as the “crowning jewel” of his career.
The governor also announced Tuesday the new chief of staff will be Mike Smith, who is now deputy director of the Georgia Emergency Communications Authority.
