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From his early 20s, 65-year-old Bill Werkheiser had an interest in government and politics, a Republican when the state was primarily Democrat. Bill was campaign manager for the first Republican to be elected in Tattnall County, former State Representative Terry Barnard.
When Bill ran for office and was elected as a Republican State Representative, he had experience as a businessman, which helped him in his role as a legislator. “I first ran for office in 2014 and took office in 2015, so this two-year term is my 11th and 12th year in office. However, I first represented Tattnall, Wayne, and Evans counties, but since redistricting, which is done every ten years, I now represent Tattnall, Evans, Jeff Davis and half of Appling County, and lost Wayne County. My population area covers about 60,000 people,” said Werkheiser.
“The legislative sessions are from January-March, usually Monday-Thursday, at the State Capitol. Fridays are especially helpful for rural legislators to return home and tend to their personal businesses and attend various functions and events in their representative area, said Bill. “It is a continual learning process and like most things in life, it’s about developing relationships”, said Bill, even though each new session is a learning experience about state government, its citizens, and what is most important to his constituents.
The prison system has been in the news a lot the past several years, and Bill has been spent a lot of time with stake holders locally and at the state level because of his involvement and interest in the prison system, especially with Tattnall home to three state prisons for many years, with the Georgia State Prison just closing February 19, 2022. “I am probably one of the only legislator who has visited every prison in
Georgia. Over a period of a year and a half, I spent half a day at each prison, with Johnny Sikes as my guide. Johnny served the prison system through the ranks, from a correctional officer to warden to Director of Operations before he retired. This was an eye-opening
education in itself but it also allowed me to build relationships because not everything is done through legislation, said Bill.
“I served with State Senator Tommie Williams, and he advised me not to go into office thinking your focus will be on what you’ve always done, which was a small business,” said Bill. “I became involved in criminal justice reform and authored a couple of pieces of
legislation. One of these was for first offenders, for certain offenses, to get a second chance by having their criminal records expunged after they served their time.
“I have served under two speakers, David Ralston, who died in office in November 2022, and current Speaker Jon Burns as well as two Governors, Nathan Deal and Brian Kemp.” said Bill. “Speaker Ralston appointed me as Chairman of Industry and Labor, so I spend a lot of time focused on time-consuming and technical labor bills. Once you become a chair, you spend a lot of time learning, but must be re-appointed every two years,”said Bill.
Even though you are only in session three months of the year, legislators attend committee and sub-committee meetings throughout the year in various parts of the state. “When I am not in session, I am ‘always on call’ for events, functions, and a variety of
meetings in my district. In addition, I am constantly responding to phone calls, texts, and emails from constituents,” said Bill.
He is known for his promptness in responding to citizens quickly and talked about the satisfaction of being able to help folks who have problems with state government. Most agencies are very short staffed and can be hard to reach, so usually I am able to get folks connected so that their problem is resolved.” These questions can range from food stamp issues to taxes (especially when their tax refunds are not received in a timely manner),” said Bill. “I get calls regarding passports, but they are a federal issue, but I can connect the caller with the correct person to expedite that process,” said Bill.
Bill has also been afforded, as a legislator, to learn state government ‘up close and personal’. These have included riding along with Georgia State Patrol troopers, which was fascinating and educational. I have also done visits with community supervision officers
(formerly known as parole officers) to become familiar with the process required of parolees, he said. One day I spent 6 hours at the Board of Pardon and Parole just to try to understand the entirety of the process.”
“Of course, I attend a lot of events throughout my district, and now that my district is
larger travel can be an hour each way. Legislators in metro counties around Atlanta don’t
have this travel issue. There are 22 of my position just in Gwinnett County to one of me in
rural Southeast Georgia.” he said.
“Although most people think all of our battles are between Democrats and Republicans, there are many issues between rural and metro legislators. This is especially true in the area of health care. In rural South Georgia, there are many counties who do nothave a doctor. Yet, in metro Atlanta, it seems there is a medical clinic every few blocks.”
On a personal level, Bill grew up in humble means in downtown Atlanta. His parents are now deceased, but they moved the family to Snellville when it was smaller than Glennville. After graduating from South Gwinnett High School, Bill attended Georgia Southern University (GSU).
Bill had been enthralled with the printing business during his last two years of high school, where he worked at his brother-in-law’s print shop in Milledgeville. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Technology/Printing Management from GSU, selecting GSU since it was the only college in Georgia that offered this degree.
Bill met his future wife, Kathy, who just celebrated their 40th year anniversary, who is also from Atlanta, while both were students at GSU. “Kathy had two more years on her degree, so we became engaged, and I moved to Glennville to work at The Mascot. I had met Kenny Tarver at GSU, and I helped him establish his mail order program that he was implementing, explained Bill.
While in Glennville, Bill bought Hodges Printing in 1986, and it was a one-man print shop and office supply store. His focus, however, was printing and direct mail. In fact, Bill became the second largest sender of mail in the Savannah-Hilton Head market at one time. However, the economy changed around 2006, and these changes included online printing opportunities, lower cost of color copiers, proliferation of pdfs, and the financial real estate market crash.
“Overall, the printing industry began to significantly struggle, and I sold the print company in 2016, said Bill. The Glennville office of The Journal Sentinel is now located where Hodges Printing and Office Supply was located for many years, and Bill changed the name to Glennville Printing and Office Supply then to Southeastern PrinTech.
Bill had an uncanny aptitude for real estate, and he began investing in homes and commercial buildings. He also began flipping houses, doing the work himself over the period of about a year, which he has continued to do for the last decade.“I have been fortunate with both residential and commercial properties, and enjoy studying the market,”said Bill. He and his wife, Kathy, married in 1984. Her first degree was in Home Economics from GSU, and she served as an Extension Agent in Tattnall for a year. Kathy’s mother is deceased, and her father, Keith Baker, a retired accountant, spends much of his time with his other daughter, Wendy. Another sibling is a brother, Doug.
The couple are parents to four children, and as they were nearing their empty nester years, Kathy returned to college for a nursing degree. She is now a travel nurse part of the year in the area of labor and delivery.
Their four children (Brett, Courtney, Russ, and Ashley) have given Bill and Kathy nine grandchildren. Brett and wife, Brittany, have five children, two who are adopted. Brett is in construction and has his own business, LevelLawn, a high-end landscape company, and
Brittany is an emergency room nurse. Courtney and her husband, Owen Farist, an attorney, live in Marietta. Courtney works part time with the blind in Cobb County. Owen is the son of Bills college roommate at GSU. They have two children. Russ is single and lives in Alpharetta. He has worked in logistics with Canadian Pacific for over ten years. Ashley Colwell, a physical therapist in Marietta, and husband, Chase, a counselor in Cobb County, have two children. “They all live very close to each other, some within blocks, said Bill, which makes it convenient when visiting their children and grandchildren. Kathy, Ashley, and Brittany all work at WellStar Kennesaw Hospital.
Bill and Kathy make their primary home in Glennville, and they reared their children in Tattnall and Evans counties. They currently attend First Baptist Church of Glennville. Bill still plays the drums on Sunday morning when he is at home and not traveling. Traveling is one of their passions, and Bill and Kathy have taken several spectacular trips, many on a shoestring budget, thanks to Bill and Kathy’s conservatism.
Bill has supported his community in many ways, serving both as president of the Glennville Rotary Club and Glennville Chamber of Commerce and has held leadership roles in various other organizations. He has been active in many local projects and events.
“I am grateful for the ability to serve as a State Representative. I appreciate the opportunities of service provided me and hope citizens will continue to call me for questions and needs, said State Representative Bill Werkheiser, who can be reached at: 912-237 0145; Office: 404-656-5132; or email at bill.werkheiser@house.ga.gov.
