George W. Huggins has announced his candidacy for Bowie County Sheriff on the Republican ticket.
He has lived in Bowie County for his entire adult life and attended school in Malta, New Boston, and Dekalb, where he graduated from.
Huggins lives in Malta with his wife Delane, and his two daughters, Maddie and Mollie. They attend the Malta Baptist Church and are active members.
After high school, George spent 7 years on active duty with the United States Army. “I am a veteran of Desert Shield and Desert Storm, graduated from Air Assault School, graduated from PLDC (Primary Leadership Development Course), and I have held several leadership positions from team leader to acting Platoon Sgt.”
In September 1992, He was hired by the Texarkana Texas Police Department, serving 7 years. “During my time there, I was awarded two lifesaving awards, selected as Officer of the Year in 1995, and served as a training officer for 5 years.”
In October 1999, Huggins went to work for the Bowie County Sheriff’s Department, under Sheriff Mary Choate.
“I served 19 years with the Sheriff’s Department, 3 years as an Investigator, and 15 years as a Patrol Lieutenant. In October 2018, I resigned and took a position as an Investigator with the New Boston Police Department, where I am currently employed,” said George.
For the past 7 years, he has held a dual commission. “I was elected as the Constable of Precinct 2 in 2012. My main duty as a Constable is the chief process server of the Justice Courts, primarily serving civil papers. The job requirements and description are similar to those of the Sheriff’s Department.”
One big difference, George imparts, is that the Sheriff is responsible for the jail, whereas a Constable is not. Another difference is that the Sheriff, has over 30 deputies to assist him, and as a Constable one has no deputies. His current office is also required to submit the same annual reports as any other law enforcement agency in the state.
“I have over 27 years of law enforcement experience, 24 years in some type of supervisory role, and I hold a Master Peace Officer License. I currently serve the local Child Protective Services as an active board member, and have for the past several years,” Huggins stated. Adding, “I thank God for giving me the desire to serve. Long before I ever had the desire to run for office, I have had an active role in my community. I was one of the driving forces that brought Shop with a Cop to this county. The program has been giving back to the communities in Bowie and Miller counties for over 20 years. I applaud the efforts of both the Texarkana Police Departments and Fire Departments for continuing to support this program. I also helped establish the West Bowie County Youth Football and Cheer League. I coached and sat on the board as a commissioner for 12 years, even though I never had a kid playing in the league. It was because of my years of giving back to my community, KTAL featured me on ‘Salute the Badge’. I have always felt the desire to give back to my community by interacting with our local youth.”
For 19 years while he was employed by the Sheriff’s Department, the two major complaints from citizens were always drugs and never seeing deputies. Drugs are a nationwide epidemic and George believes Bowie County does have its share of drugs in our communities.
Officer Huggins relates that as it stands now, the only drugs being taken off the streets are done mainly by the Patrol Division. “Working drug interdiction is very time consuming and it takes surveillance time. If the beat units are working surveillance, then they do not have the personnel patrolling, which leads to complaints about never seeing deputies. Also, keep in mind, that each West end deputy has about 300 square miles of area to cover. My goal is to regain the positions that we lost a few years ago, and go from 4 beats to 6 beats. This will allow a faster response time for calls and allow the deputies to be more proactive instead of reactive. It would also make it safer for both the citizens and deputies.”
