Thomas Telford Irvin[1] (July 14, 1929 – September 14, 2017) was an American politician who served as Georgia's Commissioner of Agriculture from 1969 until January 2011.

[3] In 2000, Irvin made his first trip to Cuba, representing Georgia agriculture in support of free trade with the country.

[8][9] In March 2007, the Georgia Department of Agriculture and Commissioner Irvin were sued by former State Representative Chesley V. Morton, who had sponsored the law.

[10] The Fulton County Superior Court ruled in favor of the Plaintiffs, validating the terms of the Humane Euthanasia Act, and issued a permanent injunction prohibiting the Department from issuing licenses to shelters using gas chambers, with exceptions being made for those established before the act and those in counties with less than 25,000 residents.

In an interview with a south Georgia newspaper, Irvin suggested possible ways to circumvent the law, including the use of private contractors to operate gas chambers.

When his father died, Irvin quit school to take care of his mother and sisters, running the business for several years until he got into local politics.