JACKSON &8212; Gov. Haley Barbour announced Tuesday the appointment of Natchez attorney and businessman Johnny Junkin to the state Workers Compensation Commission for an unexpired term ending Jan. 1, 2007, and for a six-year term beginning Jan. 1, 2007, and ending Dec. 31, 2012.

&8220;Johnny Junkin has 30 years of experience practicing law and in private business, along with extensive service in a variety of community organizations, all of which will help him in his work on this important commission,&8221; Barbour said.

&8220;I am very pleased he has accepted this assignment and confident he will serve the citizens of Mississippi well.&8221;

Junkin will serve in a position on the commission that must be filled by an attorney.

The commission&8217;s mission is to administer and enforce Mississippi&8217;s Worker Compensation Law in an efficient and equitable manner.

The scope of the law is to aid and promote the prevention of occupational injury and illness; and, in the event of such injury or illness, to secure, monitor and compel, if necessary, the provision of statutory mandated benefits to those lawfully entitled in furtherance for their rehabilitation and restoration to health and vocational opportunity.

Junkin said Tuesday he is pleased to have the opportunity to serve on the commission. &8220;It&8217;s a three-man commission; one is an attorney, and I&8217;ll fill that spot. Then one is an employer and one an employee spot.&8221;

The other two commissioners are Barney Schoby, formerly of Natchez and now of Jackson, and Lyles Williams of Jackson.

&8220;It will be different from what I do here day to day,&8221; Junkin said. &8220;I&8217;m accustomed to coming and going as I please.&8221;

The commission has rigid meeting schedules and specific duties tied to each day&8217;s work.

The work schedule will require that he spend much of the week in Jackson, he said.

Junkin has been practicing in a private law firm since 1976. From 1978 to 1980, he served as city prosecuting attorney for Natchez. He also served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1980 to 1988.

He was vice president and operator of Main Street Restaurant Inc., doing business as Scrooge&8217;s from 1984 to 1998; and vice president of St. Catherine Gravel and Ready Mix Concrete Co. from 1989 to present.

Junkin is the past vice chairman of the Natchez-Adams County Convention and Visitor Bureau, past member of the Mississippi Ethics Commission and past member and vice chairman of the state Board for Community and Junior Colleges.

He also is a member of the Knights of Columbus Council 1034 and Fourth Degree.

Junkin is a member of the Mississippi and Adams County bar associations and served as the past commissioner of the Adams County Law Library. In 1979, he was chosen to receive the &8220;Natchez Outstanding Young Man Award.&8221;

He received his bachelor&8217;s degree from the University of Southern Mississippi and earned his juris doctorate from the University of Mississippi. He is a member of both the University of Southern Mississippi and the University of Mississippi alumni associations.