Frank E. Jenkins III

Frank E. Jenkins, III is the senior partner in the law firm of Jenkins & Bowen, P.C. located in Cartersville and Savannah, Georgia.  He is a member of the Georgia, Bartow County, and Chatham County Bar Associations. 

Mr. Jenkins has practiced in local government law for over 25 years.  Local government law has become a large part of his practice through representation of property owners, including developers, and through consultation with cities and counties and the development of city and county ordinances.  In his practice, he has handled in excess of 100 litigation cases involving zoning and other local government issues, including suits involving water use and damage caused by water.  Mr. Jenkins has also handled many cases where local ordinances and regulations are challenged.  In addition, he has developed forms for making rezoning applications, appealing to the Board of Zoning Appeals, applying for special exceptions, applying for variances, and others to be employed in land use regulation.

Mr. Jenkins is also the co-author of the annually published treatise, Georgia Automobile Insurance Law, Including Tort Law, a book which serves as a comprehensive authority on automobile insurance and tort law in the State of Georgia.  It has been referenced in more than 20 Georgia appellant court decisions as an authoritative treatise. 

Mr. Jenkins has been involved in the preparation and drafting of zoning and development law at both the state and the local level.  In addition, Mr. Jenkins has been retained by several of the cities and municipalities to provide a legal analysis of existing land use regulations.  His work from time to time with local governments assists him in representing different clients in dealing with local zoning and land use issues.

In addition to the numerous lawsuits handled by Mr. Jenkins, he has also handled a number of reported appellate court decisions.  Not limited to zoning issues, Mr. Jenkins has handled more than 100 cases before the Georgia Court of Appeals and Georgia Supreme Court.  A selection of those decisions in which he served as lead counsel can be found under Reported Cases on this site.

Mr. Jenkins was the primary author of the Steinberg Act, O.C.G.A. 36-67-1, et seq., which provides for zoning proposal review procedures in urbanized cities and counties.  He also drafted the amendment to the Zoning Procedures Act, O.C.G.A. 36-66, et seq., adopted in the 1996 legislative session, which provided a procedure for zoning property by municipalities in connection with annexation.   He has published articles used in the seminars he presents to attorneys handling zoning and land use issues and to local government officials on decision-making and administration. 

Mr. Jenkins held the office of Chairman of the Cartersville Downtown Development Authority.  His accomplishments include his selection by the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners to serve as a charter member of the DeKalb County Ethics Board, a board he chaired for the first two years of its existence.  Mr. Jenkins is a Charter Member of the Authors Court, an organization that recognizes lawyers who have made outstanding contributions to the field of law through their publication of legal books and articles.