New City Attorney Close to Approval by Atlanta City Council

Patrise Perkins-Hooker is set to be approved by the Atlanta City Council as the city’s new attorney. She is currently serving in an interim capacity.

A 6-0 vote by the Atlanta City Council’s public safety committee came nearly a month after Mayor Andre Dickens proposed hiring Perkins-Hooker. The committee had proposed an unusual delay on June 10 “to allow the appointee to meet individually with the Council.”

Dickens appointed Perkins-Hooker as interim city attorney on May 8 following the “retirement” of Nina Hickson, who served in the role for nearly six years. Hickson is now chief of staff for WSSC Water in Laurel, Maryland, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Before becoming City Attorney, Perkins-Hooker served as vice president and general counsel of the Atlanta BeltLine from 2009 to 2016. Previously, Perkins-Hooker was an administrative partner at Johnson and Freeman LLC and served as president of the recording office and Registrar of Fulton County. Electoral Commission from 2016 to 2021.

Perkins-Hooker made history in 2014 when she was elected the first black president of the State Bar of Georgia.

In a May 9 letter to the Atlanta City Council, Dickens wrote:

“Ms. Perkins-Hooker is an alumna of Atlanta Public Schools, attending Frederick Douglass High School, where she was president of the student body. She graduated cum laude from the Georgia Institute of Technology and received her J.D. and MBA from Emory University School of Law and Goizueta Business School, respectively.”

“I respectfully ask you to confirm his nomination,” Dickens added.

The Atlanta City Council will take a final vote on Perkins-Hooker’s nomination in July. The final agenda has not yet been released.