Special to the Herald

SPRINGFIELD – Even though House District 161 Rep. Bill Hitchens’ impressive background is in law enforcement, he knows that agriculture is at the front and center of Georgia’s economy.

“It’s the number one product that our state provides and has been for a long time,” he said. “Agriculture, a $69.4 billion industry statewide, is important to the local economy, too.

“Effingham County is not the center of agriculture like it used to be, but there is still a lot of it that goes on, particularly cotton, corn and soybeans,” Hitchens said. “It’s important to the farms and the consumers. We all like to eat and I can’t imagine the condition that our state would be in if something was to happen to agriculture.”

As a longtime legislative guardian of Georgia agriculture, Hitchens was recently honored by the Effingham County Fair Committee. It named him and his wife, Norma, the grand marshals of the Oct. 16 Effingham County Fair Parade in downtown Springfield.

“I think our fair is not only strong but it has gotten bigger,” Hitchens said. “They have events besides the agriculture part of it. They have a pageant and the kids always like the carnival atmosphere but, still, it’s all about agriculture.”

Georgia has more than 42,000 farms and almost 10 million acres in production. It perennially ranks No. 1 nationally in the production of peanuts, chickens, pecans, blueberries, and spring onions.

Hitchens has fond memories of the Effingham County Fair and working on his uncle’s dairy farm as a youngster.

“We’d go to the fair every year and I’d stay with the cows,” Hitchens said. “I always looked forward to that. You learn a lot about what you do but also what other people involved in agriculture do.

“I always found it to be very interesting and it’s a good learning experience.”

Hitchens, a 76-year-old Rincon resident, has served in the Georgia House of Representatives since 2013. A Marine Corps Vietnam War veteran, he has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and political science from Georgia Southern. He is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia.

In 1969, Hitchens joined the Georgia State Patrol as a trooper, retiring with the rank of major in 1997. He became the first Georgia Office of Homeland Security director in 2002.

In 2004, Hitchens was unanimously approved to serve as the Georgia Department of Public Safety director and Georgia State Patrol colonel.

He and Norma have been married since 1968 and have four children.