State Senator Preston W. Smith is a seventh generation Georgian who lives in Rome. He has served as a practicing attorney as a partner with the Rome law firm of Cox, Byington, Corwin, Neidrach, Smith & Perkins.  He has also served as the youth minister at West Rome Baptist Church, an instructor of Business and Law at Floyd College, and is serving his second term as a Georgia State Senator.

Senator Smith attended Baylor University on an academic/leadership scholarship where he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration, with a major in Management and a minor in Corporate Communications. While at Baylor, Senator Smith was inducted into the Management National Honor Society. He then attended the University of Georgia School of Law where he earned a Juris Doctor degree.

While at UGA, Senator Smith served as the Chief Justice of the UGA Law School Honor Court, ranked among the top ten speakers at the ABA National Moot Court Competition, and served in the Gwinnett County District Attorney's office in the prosecutorial clinic. 

Senator Smith has worked as the Classroom Director and a faculty member at Summit Ministries, a Christian youth leadership training institute. In 1992, Senator Smith co-founded and served as director and vice-president of Sentinel Communications, Inc., a non-profit corporation established to educate, equip and empower young Americans with conservative principals and ideals. At Sentinel Communications, he served as a featured conference and retreat speaker, wrote and edited leadership curriculum and lectured to more than 10,000 students in several states. He also hosted "Preston Smith Live," a radio talk show where he conducted daily interviews and discussion with government leaders and attended a Washington, D.C. press conference with the President, Vice-President and senior White House officials.

As an attorney, Senator Smith specializes in civil litigation and has been admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Georgia, Georgia Court of Appeals, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He is a member of the American Bar Association, State Bar of Georgia and Rome Bar Association. 

As the youth minister at West Rome Baptist Church, Senator Smith oversaw youth activities for middle and high school students, managed the student ministry budget and led the various aspects of the ministry which included teaching and preaching duties.

As an instructor at Floyd College in Rome, Senator Smith has taught courses in the subjects of Legal Environment of Business and Professional Legal Assistant. Courses include a survey of the American and Georgia legal systems and the role of business in a Constitutional Republic.

Senator Smith is a member of the Rome Rotary Club and the Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce. He has been an organizer/coach of the Greater Rome Area Home-School Mock Trial team and the Armuchee High School Mock Trial Team, and a supporter of the Crisis Pregnancy Center. He has also volunteered coaching youth soccer, baseball and basketball with the local YMCA athletic teams. He is a life-long member of the NRA and enjoys outdoor activities such as hunting, fishing, camping, target shooting and recreational sports. He is also a member at West Rome Baptist Church.

In 2002, Senator Smith beat 12-year incumbent State Senator Richard Marable 54.2% to Marable's 45.8%. On January 13, 2003, Senator Smith was sworn in as a member of the Republican majority Georgia State Senate.

In 2004, Senator Smith beat his Democratic opponent with 64% of the vote.  

Senator Smith serves as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Vice Chairman of the Ethics, Reapportionment and Redistricting, and Retirement Committees. He is a member of the Appropriations and Health and Human Services Committees. He served as Governor Sonny Perdue's Administration Floor Leader in the State Senate in his first term in office.  In October of 2003, Senator Smith was named a by Georgia Trend magazine to their '40 Under 40' list of the forty most influential Georgia leaders under the age of forty.

Senator Smith's district covers all of Floyd County and portions of Bartow and Gordon counties. In the past, Senator Smith has represented portions of Chattooga, Walker, and Whitfield counties.