Claudia Glover Lawson, a native Floridian, has been a resident of DeKalb County since 1977. She is a graduate of Florida State University with a bachelor of science degree.
Prior to her succession as DeKalb Tax Commissioner in October 2006, Ms. Lawson began her career with the DeKalb County Tax Commissioner, Eugene E. Adams, in 1979. Her first assignment was in the Property Tax Division as a supervisor. Later she was transferred to the Vehicle Registration Division to train temporary motor vehicle staff. While in this division, Ms. Lawson excelled from supervisor to manager to division director and opened and managed the first motor vehicle registration satellite office at South DeKalb Mall in 1986.
Ms. Lawson was appointed Chief Deputy Tax Commissioner by the late Tom Scott in September 2002. By law, this allowed her to fill his unexpired term as Tax Commissioner. Ms. Lawson is the first black and first female to fill the Tax Commissioner’s seat in DeKalb County. She ran un-opposed in the 2008 election.
DeKalb County Tax Commissioner’s Office was the first tax commissioner office in the State of Georgia to implement an imaging system for Property Tax and Motor Vehicle records. This office was also the first in the County with an imaging system and computer storage of permanent records. In 2001, tax records were made available to the public through the Internet, and Saturday business hours were implemented to accommodate busy work schedules.
Prior to her career with the DeKalb County Tax Commissioner’s Office in 1979, she was employed by Biscayne Federal Savings & Loan Association in Miami, Florida, as assistant manager and assistant treasurer.
In her capacity as Tax Commissioner, Ms. Lawson is an active member in the following organizations:
· Member, Georgia Association of Tax Officials (GATO)
· Chair,19th District Sub-committee, Georgia Association of Tax Officials (GATO)
· Chair, Motor Vehicle Committee, Georgia Association of Tax Officials (GATO)
· Board Member and Chair, Tax Commissioner’s Technology Development Council (TCTECH)
· Member, County Officers Association of Georgia (COAG)
Ms. Lawson is very active in her church as well as many local community organizations:
- Board of Directors, Scottdale Child Development Center
- Board of Directors, A New Thing Ministry
- Leadership DeKalb 2009
- Youth Leadership DeKalb
- Decatur DeKalb Drifters
- Epicureans of DeKalb
- Women’s Legacy DeKalb of the United Way
- DeKalb League of Women Voters
- Lifetime Member, National Council of Negro Women
- DeKalb Federation of Democratic Women
- Rotary Club – South DeKalb
- Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority
Tax Commissioner Lawson lives in southeast DeKalb with her husband, Evan Lawson; they are the proud parents of twin daughters, Evanye and Evalye Lawson.
