In surprise move, Houston County District Attorney George Hartwig announces retirement
Houston County District Attorney George Hartwig said Tuesday that he is retiring at the end of August.
Word of his departure comes as a surprise to many on the heels of his November re-election after a contentious campaign.
Even so, Hartwig, 62, said retirement was something he had considered for some time and that now just seemed right.
Hartwig told The Telegraph that he hopes to “enjoy my life a little bit” and that there were no other reasons compelling him to step down. He said any word or rumor suggesting otherwise “in any kind of negative way, that’s not true.”
Hartwig was sworn in as district attorney in December 2010, a decade after joining the Perry-based office as a prosecutor in 2001. He said he had served the public since the age of 19 when he became a cop and that retiring is “something I’ve been praying about for a while.”
It was not immediately clear who will fill his position on an interim basis. Hartwig defeated chief assistant district attorney Erikka Williams, who had worked for 18 years in the Houston County DA’s office, by a slim margin last November.
“I’m excited to hear the news,” Williams said. “I’m weighing my options about what steps to take next. I was with the office for eighteen-and-a-half years, and it’s a very special office.”
This story was originally published August 17, 2021 at 3:50 PM.