“It’s wonderful to be considered by (Mayor Tom Witts) and Chief Judge (Mark Layng),” Whitner said after being sworn in by Witts. “I am excited to serve the citizens of Snellville.”
Whitner is a graduate of Howard University (B.A., Political Science, 1992) and Howard University School of Law (J.D., 1995). After admission to the Maryland Bar, Whitner received a direct commission as a First Lieutenant to the U.S. Air Force. She served as the Chief of Claims and Chief of Military Justice while stationed at RAF Mildenhall in the United Kingdom. After graduating as a Distinguished Graduate from the Air Force’s Squadron Officers School, Whitner was stationed at the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals, the highest court of the Air Force. Whitner was honorably discharged from the U.S. Air Force as a Captain in 1999.
In 2000, Ms. Whitner joined the U.S. Virgin Islands Office of the Attorney General. She also joined the U.S. Virgin Islands Air National Guard, where she again served as the Judge Advocate General for both the U.S. Virgin Islands Air and Army National Guard. After ten years of honorable service, Whitner separated from the military obtaining the rank of Major.
In 2004, after admission to the Florida Bar, Whitner relocated to Orlando where she was appointed to be an Assistant Attorney General by Florida’s Attorney General Charlie Crist.
In 2005, Whitner gained admission to the Georgia Bar and in 2006 she began working as an Assistant Public Defender for the Office of the Public Defender in the Eastern Judicial Circuit. In 2011, Whitner co-founded the Porter and Whitner Law Group, LLC, a general practice law firm, in Norcross.
Whitner is a current and active member of the Gwinnett Bar Association, the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Gwinnett Chapter, and the Howard University Alumni Association.
She is a current board member with the Gwinnett Pearls of Service, a non-profit organization that provides college scholarships to Gwinnett County high school students. Whitner is licensed to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Georgia, in the state of Georgia and the state of Florida.
Whitner is married to Brian and they have two children, Zander, age 11, and Jaide, age 10.
