The Honorable Ken Givens
Commissioner of Agriculture
Ellington Agricultural Center
Box 40627, Melrose Station
Nashville, TN 37204 

Ken Givens was appointed by Governor Phil Bredesen as Tennessee's 34th Commissioner of Agriculture on January 18, 2003. As such, he is a statutory member of the Tennessee Board of Regents.

He is a U.S. Army veteran and holds a bachelor's degree in history and political science as well as a master's degree in political science from East Tennessee State University.

He is a former State Representative and House Agriculture Committee Chairman.  He was the House of Representatives' designee and served for four years on the Tennessee Tobacco Farmers Certifying Board, which administers Phase II tobacco settlement dollars to growers.  During his 14 years in the House, he was instrumental in passing key legislation related to agriculture.

In 2002, Givens sponsored a measure to ensure the ability of existing farm operations to expand under Tennessee's right-to-farm law.  In 1998, he sponsored legislation allowing Tennessee to joy the Southern Dairy Compact to ensure that dairies receive reasonable prices for the milk they produce.  A year earlier, he co-sponsored legislation creating the state's Forestry Management Advisory Panel to evaluate and recommend sound forestry management practices.

Givens was first elected to the state House of Representatives in 1988.  He served as chairman of the House Agriculture Committee from 1997 to 2002.  In addition to agricultural issues, he took a special interest in children's health care issues.

Givens is a native of Rogersville where his family operates a 350-acre diversified beef cattle and tobacco farm.  He is a member of the American Legion and the Hawkins County Cattlemen's Association.