If the Georgia General Assembly had a truant officer, the first lawmaker he'd likely look for would be state Rep. Ron Sailor (D-Lithonia).

If that officer could find Sailor, who's missed 211 of 233 votes on bills, resolutions and procedural matters in the Georgia House, he might next go after state Rep. Pam Stephenson (D-Decatur).

Stephenson's missed nearly half of the same number of votes.

He might also send a warning note to state Reps. LaNett Stanley-Turner (D-Atlanta) and Fran Millar (R-Dunwoody), who've each been absent for one of every three votes cast in the Georgia House this session.

Sailor, Stephenson, Stanley-Turner and Millar are the 2008 General Assembly's top four lawmakers with the most unexcused absences for votes on legislative matters, according to state House and Senate voting records compiled and analyzed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Votes on bills, resolutions and procedural matters were counted in the analysis. Attendance votes were not included.

'Fundamental' duty

A leading advocate for open and responsible government said he found the statistics troubling.

"A fundamental responsibility of being in the General Assembly is to be there, casting votes," said Bill Bozarth, executive director Common Cause Georgia. "If not for every vote, at least a large majority of the time."

Excused absences were not included in the totals, although some lawmakers had high numbers of excused absences from voting. Lawmakers don't have to state the reason why they'll be absent.

"Ordinarily they tell us," said Robbie Rivers, clerk of the Georgia House. "We don't question why —- we just take their word for it."

All of the 10 most absent lawmakers were members of the House. Records show that Georgia senators generally missed fewer votes than their House counterparts. Sen. Tommie Williams (R-Lyons), who had the most unexcused absences in the Senate, missed 21 out of 158 votes. That's 13 percent of all of the votes cast so far in that chamber.

Williams said his absences stem from his role as Senate majority leader, for which he is frequently called off the floor during votes.

"My job is partly running over to the House to get agreements, running down to the governor's office to get agreements on his bills," said Williams. "I'm working like a dog. I'm not missing votes because I'm out having lunch."

Williams said the votes he missed probably took place when he called to preside over the Senate.

House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) routinely chides the members of his chamber, in general, for being absent, especially when there aren't enough representatives to make a quorum. But he has not called out any specific lawmaker on the House floor.

"The speaker does expect members to be on the floor and voting," said Clelia Davis, Richardson's communications director.

Stephenson, who also had 22 excused votes, and Stanley-Turner, who had 26, didn't return phone calls seeking comment. During a short interview last week, Sailor said preliminary findings by the newspaper were inaccurate.

Millar, when informed of his missed vote total, said "that's a fair statement.

"I'm not making excuses but I would say to you as of today, 95 percent of probably what we've done so far has not been of great significance," said Millar.

Millar said he's been spending more time off the floor pushing legislation to turn Dunwoody into a real city and expand technical education in public schools.

The newspaper's analysis, in some cases, highlights the struggle of part-time lawmakers to balance the responsibilities of the elected offices with their personal lives and their jobs back home.

Stephenson, for example, is a full-time lawyer, board chairwoman and interim chief executive officer of Grady Memorial Hospital. Stanley-Turner is listed as a "communications consultant" on the Georgia House Web site, and Sailor is a church pastor.

State Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield (D-Decatur), who ranked sixth for missing 23 percent of the votes in the Georgia House, is a full-time mother.

"This is cold and flu season. I've had two sick kids, a husband with a full-time job and no nanny," said Benfield. "When one of them is sick, I'm the one who rushes over and gets them out of child care."

Benfield said she didn't recall missing votes on major legislation. But the next time she's pulled out of the House because of a sick child, Benfield said she'll ask to be excused.

The faithful five

Of the 236 lawmakers currently serving in the Georgia House and Senate, only five House members haven't missed a single vote this year. They are Joe Wilkinson (R-Sandy Springs), Mike Glanton (D-Ellenwood), Kevin Levitas (D-Atlanta), Billy Maddox (R-Zebulon) and Mark Hamilton (R-Cumming).

Sailor's 91 percent missed vote record has left the roughly 31,000 Lithonia-area voters he represents nearly voiceless in the Georgia House this year.

Legislative voting records show that Sailor didn't cast a single vote on bills, resolutions and procedural matters that took place on 19 of the 29 working days for Georgia lawmakers this session.

Sailor said the actual total of votes he missed is much lower than the original totals recorded in the Georgia House. He said that's because he asked to be recorded in the official House journal as present for the "vast majority" of the votes he missed.

"It is so challenging to be present for every vote," said Sailor. "Sometimes you get called off the floor."

The House journal shows that Sailor did ask to be recorded after the fact as present for most of the morning attendance votes he missed. But the official record doesn't include any request from Sailor to be recorded as voting on any of 211 non-attendance votes he missed. And if he had, none of those after-the-fact votes would have counted anyway. The original vote result cannot be altered, even if there are enough change requests to change the outcome.

WHO MISSED THE MOST VOTES

The following members of the Georgia House of Representatives make up a Top 10 list of lawmakers who have missed the most of 233 votes on bills, resolutions and procedural matters since the Jan. 14 start of the 2008 General Assembly. The total of missed votes does not include those from which the lawmakers were excused.

Ron Sailor (D-Lithonia)

Votes missed: 211

Percent missed: 91%

Pam Stephenson (D-Decatur)

Votes missed: 104

Percent missed: 45%

LaNett Stanley-Turner (D-Atlanta)

Votes missed: 77

Percent missed: 33%

Fran Millar (R-Dunwoody)

Votes missed: 76

Percent missed: 33%

David Lucas (D-Macon)

Votes missed: 60

Percent missed: 26%

Stephanie Stuckey Benfield (D-Decatur)

Votes missed: 53

Percent missed: 23%

Stan Watson (D-Decatur)

Votes missed: 53

Percent missed: 23%

Alisha Thomas Morgan (D-Austell)

Votes missed: 52

Percent missed: 22%

Calvin Smyre (D-Columbus)

Votes missed: 52

Percent missed: 22%

Joe Heckstall (D-East Point)

Votes missed: 50

Percent missed: 21%

Source: Georgia House clerk's office and the secretary of the state Senate.

Note: The analysis did not include House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) because he is barred from voting by the Georgia Constitution except in rare cases of a tie vote or to meet the two-thirds votes needed to pass a constitutional amendment.