Growing up on his grandparent’s farm in Turner County in the late 1950s without the luxury of running water, Ken learned the value of resilience and adaptability early in life. With an open mind and steadfast determination, Ken has maintained a strong, conservative value system focused on education, hard work, and helping others. 

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In high school, Ken became involved in sports and student council, ultimately transferring to Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School, where he found an interest in writing and, to earn his tuition, stepped up to cut grass and milk cows. Continuing his education at Young Harris College through the work-study program, Ken continued to explore creative writing and poetry before joining law enforcement training through a federally funded program at the University of Georgia. Here, he took additional classes towards a degree in English before accepting his first law enforcement job in Monroe, GA. 

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Quickly rising to the rank of lieutenant, Ken ultimately enrolled at Georgia College to complete his Bachelor's degree in English while working at the Sheriff’s office in Baldwin County. He was then awarded a creative writing scholarship in the Master’s program at the University of Arkansas. While he remained with the Baldwin Sheriff’s office during summer breaks, he also served in the public safety department in Arkansas.

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In 1980, Ken was offered a teaching position back home with Baldwin High School and decided to return for that opportunity. While teaching, Ken continued his law enforcement shifts on nights and weekends and decided to pursue his longtime interest in running for office to further serve his community. In 1981, he was elected to the Milledgeville City Council, where he became the youngest elected and ultimately longest-serving member for 28 years. 

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During this time, Ken also met his wife, Carol (Grant). Carol’s family has deep roots in Milledgeville, where her great-grandfather established the J.C. Grant Company and her father served as a councilman and then Mayor. Ken & Carol were married in 1982, and Ken took a Public Safety Officer position at GCSU, where he was promoted to the role of Director and earned the title “Chief” across campus and throughout the community, ultimately earning recognition as one of the 125 most influential people in the 125-year history of GCSU.

 

By 2007, Ken had served as a teacher, mentor, “Chief” and community leader when Governor Sonny Perdue appointed him as Executive Director of the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council (POST) where he served for 12 years. Ken continued writing as a hobby, became an Adjunct Professor in the Command College at Columbus State University, and served as Vice Chairman on the Board of Trustees at Georgia Military College. Once dubbed the “Poet with a Gun'' by the AJC, Ken published his first book, “Wearing Johnny’s Shirt,” a collection of poems in 2018. With a continued interest in politics, in 2022, the opportunity arose for Ken to run for State House, and he was elected to fill that seat, which is now District 149. 

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Ken and Carol continue to live and work in Milledgeville, where they raised their two children, Emily and John Austin, are active in their community and serve as members of the First United Methodist Church. They recently welcomed their first grandchild and have another on the way.