District 3 Commissioner Jasper Watkins III (D); 2024 770.822.7003 Jasper.Watkins@gwinnettcounty.com Download Image

Jasper Watkins III, a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the Army, was elected District 3 Commissioner in 2020. District 3 encompasses Dacula, Grayson, Loganville, Snellville, and parts of Lawrenceville.

Jasper is the principal/consultant for Watty Consulting, LLC, and senior account executive for the Group Purchasing Organization, Minnesota Multistate Contracting Alliance for Pharmacy Infuse. He served 25 years as an Army pharmacist, five years as chief of the Bureau for Statewide Pharmaceutical Services for the Florida Department of Health and two years with the Atlanta Veterans Administration Medical Center's pharmacy.

A nuclear pharmacist, Jasper received a bachelor's degree in pharmacy from Florida A&M University and a Master of Health Services Administration from Central Michigan University. He was the Deputy Pharmacy Consultant to the Army Surgeon General, completed an Army Fellowship in Medication – Use Safety, and is the first African American in the armed forces and the state of Florida to achieve board certification with the American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacist Nuclear Pharmacy Residency Program. While in the service, he assisted in the placement of wounded personnel from the September 11 attacks on the Pentagon, and helped lead pharmaceutical support for civilians in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and resupply operations immediately after Hurricane Andrew.

Jasper received the Legion of Merit, the highest peacetime military award, along with the Award of Excellence in Allied Health Care, the Order of Military Medical Merit, and many other military decorations, and honors. Jasper moved to Gwinnett County in 2006 and lives in Grayson. He is a graduate of the Gwinnett 101 Citizens Academy, Leadership Gwinnett, NACo's Master Certificate of Leadership and serves on the National Association of Counties Health Steering Committee and Association of County Commissioners of Georgia Committee on Mental Health & Substance Abuse. He also served as president of the Northforke Plantation Homeowners Association and is a member of several boards and scientific associations, including the Georgia Association of Black County Officials.