Mark Hatfield was born and raised in Waycross, Georgia. He was educated in the Waycross City Schools and graduated from Waycross High School as Valedictorian of the Class of 1987. Mark graduated from the University of Georgia in 1990 as a First Honor Graduate with an A.B. degree in Political Science, Summa Cum Laude, with Highest Honors. He subsequently earned his Juris Doctor, Cum Laude, from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1993.During Mark's undergraduate career at UGA, he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa; was a member of the UGA Honors Program; served as President of the UGA Zodiac Honor Society; and was a recipient of the UGA President's Award in 1990. In law school at Georgia, Mark was a member of the Joseph Henry Lumpkin American Inn of Court; won the 1992 Intraschool Third Year Mock Trial Competition; won the 1992 Verner F. Chaffin Award for Excellence in Fiduciary Law; and served as a Graduate Senator to the UGA Student Government Association from 1990-1992.A former Georgia All-State alto saxophonist in 1987, Mark was also a member of the University of Georgia Redcoat Marching, Concert, and Symphonic Bands during his years at UGA. Mark was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia in 1993, and he prosecuted criminal cases as an Assistant District Attorney for the Western Judicial Circuit based in Athens, Georgia from 1993- 1994. He then returned home to Waycross and joined the private law practice of distinguished trial attorney Leon A. Wilson II, with whom he later formed a partnership known as The Wilson Law Firm.Mark and his brother, Tommy, began practicing law together in Waycross in 1997, focusing on serious personal injury and wrongful death claims; workers' compensation claims; criminal defense; divorce, custody, and related domestic relations cases; Wills and administration of estates; and general litigation matters.In 2005, Mark was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives as State Representative for House District 177, representing Ware and Charlton Counties. He served four (4) terms in the House, until 2013, during which period he served at various times as Vice-Chairman of the Judiciary (Civil) Committee; Vice-Chairman of the Judiciary (Non-Civil) Committee; Secretary of the Governmental Affairs Committee; a member of the Transportation Committee; a member of the Higher Education Committee; and a member of the Appropriations Committee, on which he served on the Higher Education Subcommittee. Mark also served as Chairman of the General Oversight Committee for the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council.A former President of the Waycross Bar Association and a former Chairman of the Ware County Republican Party, Mark has also been actively involved in the community, serving his neighbors in several different capacities. He is a former member of the Waycross Jaycees; a former member of the Board of Directors of the Southeast Georgia Chapter of the American Red Cross; a former member and officer of the Waycross Elks Lodge # 369; and the former Vice-President of the Ware County Band Boosters Club, Inc. He currently plays saxophone with the "Big Sound of the Okefenoke" community jazz band in Waycross.Mark and his wife, Lee, married in 1995. They have two children, John Mark II, who is a law student at the University of Georgia School of Law, and Annabeth, an undergraduate at the University of Georgia. The family are members of the First United Methodist Church, Waycross, where Mark and Lee have served on the church's Administrative Council and in various other positions of church leadership over the years.