Gov. Brian Kemp administered the oath Sept. 5 to his daughter, Lucy Kemp, making her one of 30 new troopers who recently joined the Georgia State Patrol.
Lucy Kemp, the middle of the governor's three daughters, completed 22 weeks of academy instruction followed by 12 weeks of field training before being sworn in at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth. Troopers focus primarily on enforcing traffic laws, investigating crashes and aiding motorists, and they also participate in broader law enforcement work and disaster response.
The Georgia State Patrol said Kemp was elected vice president of her class and achieved the highest average grades in academic work among her classmates. She received a scholarship for further study at Reinhardt University in Waleska, Georgia, and, like other new troopers, was assigned to one of the patrol's 52 posts across the state.
Kemp's induction means the governor — who has been protected by state troopers since taking office in 2019 — now has a trooper in the family. Kemp's office did not respond to further requests for comment Thursday.
Lucy Kemp's path to the patrol includes a personal tragedy tied to a 2020 highway crash. Her onetime boyfriend, Harrison Deal, died in a four-vehicle collision on Interstate 16 near Savannah in December 2020 while working on the campaign of then-U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler. Online court records show Mario Demaine Clark, a truck driver found at fault in the crash, pleaded guilty in 2024 to second-degree vehicular homicide, a misdemeanor. Clark was sentenced to a year in jail and was allowed to serve the remainder of that sentence on probation after his plea.
The Georgia State Patrol said new troopers undergo training designed to prepare them for a range of duties, from routine traffic enforcement to emergency and disaster response. The agency did not provide additional details about where Lucy Kemp will be stationed.
The swearing-in comes as governors and their families occasionally face scrutiny when relatives hold public safety or law enforcement positions. The Georgia State Patrol described its selection and training processes for cadets in its statement announcing the new class, noting academic rankings and class leadership positions among the graduates.
Lucy Kemp's assignment to an operational patrol post follows the standard placement process for new troopers, the agency said, joining colleagues charged with enforcing state traffic laws, investigating crashes and assisting motorists throughout Georgia.