Bad Links?
Other glitches?
Notify Webmaster

Hall steps down from county post

By LEE WILLIAMS
lwilliams@TheCitizenNews.com

Fayette County’s first Chief Marshal Butch Hall admits it wasn’t easy walking away from the post he has held for 16 years, but it was something the 61-year-old had to do.

On Jan. 2, Hall will retire from the Marshal’s Office. But don’t expect to find Hall spending his days fishing or hunting because on Jan. 3, Hall will assume a new role as incoming Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney Scott Ballard’s chief investigator in the Griffin office.

“This job came open and it looked like a good opportunity and I had the time in to retire,” said Hall, who has over 35 years of public safety experience under his belt. “You can retire at 55 and with 25 years of serve.”

Hall, who managed nine employees and oversaw a $650,000 budget, said he will miss his staff and the many friends he has made over the years.

“It was kind of a hard decision to make,” said Hall, a father of four and grandfather of seven. “It’s hard when you work with people everyday. But I’ll be coming back around.”

Hall, who holds a master’s degree in criminal justice management, is no stranger to challenge.

At 21, Hall joined the public safety sector as a firefighter in the city of East Point in 1964. Six years later, he hung up his turnout gear for a police badge. He transferred to the East Point Police Department, where he spent two years.

Hall, a family man, loved the fire service, but left because he needed better hours. He said it wasn’t like it is today, where many firefighters work 24 hour shifts and are off for 48 hours.

“I worked 13 1/2 hours at night and 10 1/2 hours during the day. I also worked a part-time job and I would go for at least a week without coming home. I didn’t have much of a home life,” Hall said. “I wanted to pick something with a little bit of home life and the pay and benefits were the same.”

Hall stayed in law enforcement, but later joined the Georgia State Patrol for about one year. He then joined the Fayetteville Police Department, where he worked for two years. Next, he went to work for the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department, where he stayed for 14 years earning the rank of chief deputy.

In 1989, he became the first chief and safety director for the newly-created Fayette County Marshal’s Office.

Under his watch, the Marshal’s Office that handles everything from administering safety programs to policing county lakes and reservoirs has made many achievements.

Hall implemented an employee drug and alcohol testing program, implemented a Marine Patrol Unit to patrol county reservoirs, reduced employee insurance claims through increased safety awareness and continued to provide updated training programs for county employees during his tenure.

Hall doesn’t brag about his accomplishments, his strong sense of commitment or the lives he has saved or touched over the years. Hall, who doubles as the Fayette County Homeland Security coordinator, said he just hopes someone will look back on his tenure with pride.

“I just hope somewhere down the road that someone will say he made a difference, he helped somebody out, he helped the county out or he helped the citizens of Georgia out,” Hall said. “I hope they say that he did something beneficial.”