Meet Andy Crawford! He is a prosecutor in the District Attorney’s Office of the Piedmont Judicial Circuit (Jackson, Barrow, and Banks counties) where he prosecutes felonies. Andy’s family moved from Texas to Georgia in 1994. He was raised in Jackson County with his younger siblings, Katy and Alex. Andy graduated from Jackson County, but he likes to say he “went to school on Hwy. 129” (went to South Jackson Elementary, detoured over to East Jackson Middle School, went to Jackson County Comprehensive High School, to Athens at UGA before going to Mercer Law School). Andy met his wife, Allison, at UGA, before moving back to Jackson County to settle down in his hometown. They have three daughters.
We want to thank Andy for taking the time to tell us a little more about himself and what he loves about our community.
Question: Please tell us a little bit about your family.
Answer: “I have been married to my wife, Allison, for 12 years and have three daughters, Cadence (8), Hannah (6), and Lucy (3). My wife is a Speech Language Pathologist at Gum Springs Elementary. My siblings have also been/are involved in the Jackson County School System. Katy was a counselor at West Jackson Middle School and Alex is a coach at Jackson County High School.”
Q: Please tell us about your current, past, or future career. What do you love most about what you do?
A: “Sometime around high school, I decided that I wanted to go to law school, return home, and be a hometown lawyer. That plan never changed, and I love it. I have gotten to prosecute cases that involved people I have grown up with, friends that are witnesses or victims, and unfortunately sometimes defendants. I don’t think everybody would like to prosecute where they grew up, but I do. Prosecutors deal with thousands of cases, and it’s easy for something to become just another case. Cases do not become numbers when you know the people involved. Everybody is made in God’s own image, and every victim and defendant deserves justice. It’s a high calling, but prosecuting in my hometown keeps me striving to meet it.”
Q: What are a couple of your favorite restaurants in our community?
A: “Cabin Creek BBQ, Cream N’ Shuga, and Inside Story.”
Q: How long have you lived or worked in our community?
A: “We have lived here since 1994. I like to say we beat the rush. I have been prosecuting for over a decade.”
Q: Who is the most interesting person you’ve met here in our community?
A: “Frances Ellington. When my wife and I moved back from law school, we got a rental house that was built in 1947 in downtown Jefferson. She lived next door, was in her 90’s, and had graduated from the Martin Institute. She and her husband were both pharmacists in the 1950s. We would try to help her out with chores, being the young couple next door, and she would always have the most amazing things to say about how the community had changed over the nearly century she had been living here.”
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be and why?
A: “Glacier National Park with my wife. We’ve wanted to go for years. It’s just so beautiful and that particular national park is really hard to get to because it’s so remote.”
Q: What is one of your favorite movies? TV shows?
A: “T.V. – ‘Andy Griffith,’ ‘The Office,’ and of course Georgia Football; Movies – Any Jimmy Stewart or John Wayne movies, ‘Lord of the Rings,’ ‘Back to the Future.’”
Q: What advice would you give to people?
A: “Be in the community with folks. It takes an intentionality to know your neighbors, to be members of civic organizations (church, Rotary, Kiwanis, your local PTA). Ultimately, so much of our happiness comes from being in relationship with the people around us.”
Q: What is something on your bucket list?
A: “I’ve never been to the Grand Canyon. I would love to rent a camper and drive the family across the country to visit it.”
Q: What is your go-to band when you can’t decide what to listen to?
A: “Anything 90s Alternative, Ben Rector, The Black Keys, Sturgill Simpson.”
Q: What current or former local business makes you the most nostalgic about our community?
A: “I miss Lester’s. It was over on Hwy. 441 in Nicholson. They made the best biscuits. You weren’t allowed to eat in class, but teachers would look the other way if you were eating a Lester’s biscuit in homeroom.”
Q: If you could choose anyone that is alive today and not a relative; with whom would you love to have lunch? Why? And where locally would y’all meet for this lunch?
A: “Nolan Ryan. I am a big baseball fan, and some of my earliest memories are going to see Nolan Ryan pitch when we lived in Texas. The man struck out Hank Aaron and Ken Griffey Jr. He played so long that he struck out seven father and sons. We would go to Cabin Creek BBQ, because Nolan would want a good brisket.”
Q: What is your favorite thing or something unique about our community?
A: “I love that Jackson County is a diverse county. You can be in Commerce, Jefferson, or Hoschton, and each has its own feel. They all have their own unique culture and history.
Q: Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years?
A: “I am so content living here and doing what I am doing. I love practicing law in my hometown around the people that I know and love. I hope to keep my community safe and serve the people around here. My daughters and my wife love where we are. I don’t expect to go anywhere else. This is a great place to raise my daughters, and I want to keep it that way.”
Q: (Even for friends or family), what is something interesting that most people don’t know about you?
A: “I like to paint with watercolors. Most people would be surprised that I pick up a paintbrush at all. I’m not very artistic. After long days working on very heavy and difficult cases, it allows me to unplug and put my phone down. It’s just you and the brush and the paper. I don’t care if it looks good. I’m not doing it for anyone else but me… and my daughters like to see what I come up with.”
Q: What is the most beautiful place you have ever been?
A: “The Great Smoky Mountains in mid-October on Mt. LeConte looking over the National Park. It doesn’t get any prettier than that.”
Q: Favorite month? favorite holiday? and best single day on the calendar?
A: “Month: October. You are well in the fall. It’s football season. The air is crisp and the leaves are changing. It doesn’t get better than that.; Holiday: Thanksgiving; Single Day: Oct. 8. It’s my birthday.”
Q: What would you rate a 10 out of 10?
A: “Reading out loud to my kids. It started when they were babies, and it just never stopped. It’s something I look forward to every day, because you end up experiencing fun stories with them. It gives me this ready-made thing to discuss with them. I get to relate lessons without it feeling like I’m lecturing them, because they come up naturally in the characters and events of the story. It has led to some great conversations and memories.”
Q: Who inspires you to be better?
A: “My wife. She’s an outstanding mother and speech language pathologist. She does it all so well that I’m just trying to keep up. She is setting the pace, and if I can manage to keep up with her, I’m doing alright.”
Q: What is one or two of your favorite smells?
A: “Camp fires and rain. But not at the same time!”
Q: Finally, what 3 words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word HOME?
A: “Family, Comfort, and Happiness.”
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