(Media release from Georgia Northwestern Technical College):
Georgia Northwestern Technical College (GNTC) announces the appointment of L. Gale Buckner to its Board of Directors.
Buckner has worked more than 40 years in law enforcement and the judiciary. She performs freelance work for post-conviction attorneys since retiring as Murray County’s chief magistrate judge in 2018.
“It is an honor to serve our community in a capacity that broadens educational and career opportunities for northwest Georgia residents,” Buckner said of serving on the GNTC board. “Strengthening the region’s workforce benefits each person and family achieving their educational goals and supports our entrenched businesses, as well as businesses seeking to locate in our area.”
Prior to her appointment as chief magistrate judge in 2012 and election to the post in 2014, she served as commissioner of the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice from 2011-12. A board member of the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles from 2005-11, she served as the board’s chair from 2008-10 and vice-chair from 2006-08. She served as executive director of the Georgia Criminal Justice Coordinating Council from 2000-05.
She worked for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation from 1981-2000, where she held a variety of roles, most recently as the agency’s director of Legislative and Governmental Affairs from 1999-2000 and Personnel director from 1995-99. Earlier roles included undercover operative, coordinator of a street-level drug squad and assistant special agent in charge of a squad investigating public corruption and fraud.
She began her law enforcement career in 1978 with the Chatsworth Police Department, where she was named Officer of the Year in 1979.
“My criminal justice career has illustrated for me the value of a community’s confidence that its citizens can provide for themselves and their families financially,” Buckner said.
Buckner earned a master’s degree in Public Administration from Brenau University in 1987 and a bachelor’s degree in Urban Life from Georgia State University in 1981.
She served as a Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange delegate to Israel in 2003 and earned Crisis Responder Team certification through the National Organization for Victim Assistance in 2002. She attended the FBI National Academy in spring 1992.
She serves as an advisor to the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Institute of Corrections for curriculum development and training for parole board members and executives.
She has served on several state boards during her career, including the Georgia Child Fatality Review Panel, Commission on Family Violence and Georgia Diversity Advisory Council. She has served on the Board of Directors for the National Criminal Justice Association, as co-founder and executive director of Georgia Women in Law Enforcement, as associate director of the Peace Officers Association of Georgia and in multiple roles with the International Association of Women Police, including as president and as chair of the Board of Trustees.
Buckner’s professional awards include the Georgia State University Andrew Young School of Policy Studies Distinguished Alumni Award in 2012, the International Association of Women Police Dr. Lois Higgins-Grote Heritage Award in 2007, “Women Looking Ahead” magazine’s 100s list of Georgia’s Most Powerful & Influential Women in 2002 and the National Center for Women in Policing Breaking the Glass Ceiling Award in 1999.
Her community service activities include past membership in Pilot Club, Rotary International and the Board of Directors for Highland Rivers Health. A graduate of Leadership Murray, she serves on the Board of Directors for the Green House Child Advocacy Center.
She also assisted in coordinating recovery and restoration efforts after the tornado on Easter in 2020. Since 2007, she has coordinated Holy Land pilgrimages for Holly Creek Baptist Church in Chatsworth; previously she served in the church’s substance abuse ministry.
Listed are members of GNTC’s Board of Directors showing the board member’s name, county, place of employment and title:
• Retired Chief Magistrate Judge L. Gale Buckner, Murray, Murray County Magistrate Court
• Ben Canedo, Walker, Roper Corp., senior Human Resources business partner
• Tony Ferguson, Floyd, Georgia Power, northwest regional director
• Torrance Ford, Catoosa, Shaw Industries Group Inc., Talent Management vice president
• Albert “Al” Hodge, Floyd, Hodge Consulting, founder and chief executive officer
• Paul Meredith, Chattooga, Mohawk, Manufacturing director
• Kenna Stock, Floyd, Harbin Clinic, chief executive officer
• Michele Taylor, Gordon, Calhoun City Schools, superintendent
