HOUSTON COUNTY, Ga. — Georgia's longest actively-serving sheriff now has another title to his name.
Houston County Sheriff Cullen Talton was named the Sheriff of the Year last week at the Georgia Sheriff's Association Conference.
Sheriff Talton was sworn in as Houston County's sheriff in 1973, and more than four decades later, he's still serving the same place he's called home all his life.
"Houston County's been good to me, to my family," said Talton.
That can be said for Talton's nuclear family and his law enforcement family, who he credits for his Sheriff of the Year award.
"I have the best office in the state," he said.
The memory of those employees looms large as Talton looks back on his nearly 47 years in office -- memories of the many good days and of two that were not.
"It just sticks with you every day, in fact -- Jesse Tanner, he was gunned down serving a warrant, and Danny Ray, he was working at the jail when he got killed," said Talton.
Paintings of both of them hang in the front lobby of the sheriff's office.
Looking at those images, Talton said law enforcement officers across the state need to be better compensated for the risks they take.
Talton emphasized that he was grateful for the support Houston County commissioners give his office and acknowledged the more than $18 per hour starting pay for deputies in his department is one of the highest in the area.
But he said the dangers of the job require more.
"They're putting their life on the line when they go out there," said Talton.
When asked if he thought the state should chip in, the sheriff was clear.
"I would like to see the state get more involved, yeah," he said.
Over the year's, Talton's seen the county he's tasked with protecting explode in size.
"Oh, my God," he said. "It's about doubled, more than doubled."
His office has grown to keep up. What was a roughly 30-person outfit when Talton was sworn in in 1973 now boasts more than 300 employees, including about 150 sworn deputies.
In the same time span, Talton's overseen the office's effort to bring in more modern equipment, like the their new drone program.
He admits that wasn't really on his radar in the 1970s. "No, we didn't even know what a drone was!" he laughed.
After years of dedication to his employees and his office, the question is, "how long will he continue to serve them as sheriff?"
When we asked the 87-year-old Talton that question, he kept his answer vague.
"I'm not going to make an announcement yet," he said. "I've got to decide some time before the first of next year."
Talton said a big factor in that decision would be his health.
He will officially accept the award at a banquet in October.
When asked how he thinks he'll feel that day, Talton said "humbled."