Former Effingham County administrator David Crawley has been hired to be the county manager in McDuffie County.

According to the McDuffie Progress, Crawley was hired by county commissioners there July 29 to replace Don Norton, who retired after 11 years. Crawley was the Effingham county administrator from 2008-13, and he has served as Springfield’s public works director since last July.

He turned in his letter of resignation Monday, according to Springfield City Manager Brett Bennett.

“He was a great addition to our staff,” Bennett said, “and his professionalism will be missed. The employees he worked with certainly hate to see him leave.”

Crawley served as zoning administrator and assistant county administrator before being named county administrator in August 2008, beginning his stint with the county in 2003. He came to the county after working as a senior wetlands biologist with Kern-Coleman and Company, where he was involved in natural resources planning, mitigation planning and monitoring, wetlands delineation, GIS land planning, protected species surveys and environmental planning.

He resigned under pressure from commissioners in May 2013, and he and his wife Patrice, then the county clerk, accepted a separation agreement with the county.

Crawley also ran this year for the District 5 county commissioner seat against Phil Kieffer, losing 457-373.

McDuffie County is west of Augusta and has a population of approximately 22,000.