Kevin Tanner is the Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. Commissioner Tanner brings around three decades of public service experience, with a deep understanding of Georgia’s complex behavioral health continuum.

With an operating budget of $1.6 billion and a workforce of 4,500 employees, Commissioner Kevin Tanner has led transformative initiatives at DBHDD since his appointment. Under his leadership, historic investments in the agency’s workforce have resulted in reopening previously offline crisis beds and enabling state hospitals to operate at nearly full capacity. His efforts also led to a significant provider rate increase for intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) services and behavioral health professionals. By improving internal efficiencies, Commissioner Tanner was able to bring raise starting salaries for critical clinical positions by nearly 20 percent. Additionally, he serves as a Trustee of the Georgia Opioid Crisis Abatement Trust and has played an integral role in the construction of new crisis settings across the state.

Commissioner Tanner received his undergraduate degree from North Georgia College and State University and earned his Master of Public Administration from Columbus State University. He has been heavily involved in community and civic activities in the North Georgia area for many years.

Commissioner Tanner and his wife, Stacie, have been married for more than 20 years. Stacie is a public-school Kindergarten teacher, and they are the proud parents of three daughters: Kaitlyn, Abbie, and Chloe. He serves as a Deacon at Bethel Baptist Church where his family has attended for seven generations.