Release:

Decatur, GA (October 26, 2020) – The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announces the promotion of Eric Schwalls to Special Agent in Charge of the GBI’s Southwestern Regional Drug Enforcement Office (SWRDEO) in Albany, GA. SAC Schwalls will be responsible for supervision of the staff assigned to the unit and will oversee the administration of the office. SWRDEO covers a 42-county area in southwest Georgia.  

SAC Schwalls began his law enforcement career with the GBI in 2001 as a Narcotics Agent assigned to the State Drug Task Force, in Atlanta, GA and the South Georgia Drug Task Force, in Lanier County, GA. He was later promoted to Special Agent and assigned to the GBI Region 4 Field Office, in Douglas, GA and the GBI Region 15 Field Office, in Sylvester, GA. While at Region 15, he attended the University of Tennessee’s National Forensic Academy and became a Crime Scene Specialist. In 2016, SAC Schwalls was promoted to the rank of Assistant Special Agent in Charge and Commander of the Pataula Drug Task Force, in Colquitt, GA. In 2018, Schwalls transferred to the GBI Region 9 Field Office, in Thomasville, GA. In 2019, he returned to drug work and filled the position of Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the newly created SWRDEO. 

SAC Schwalls received a GBI Deputy Director’s Award for Investigative Excellence in 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019. SAC Schwalls was recognized as one of Georgia’s best and brightest by Georgia Trend Magazine as a recipient of the 2011 40 Under 40 award.

SAC Schwalls graduated from Abraham Baldwin Agriculture College with an Associates of Criminal Justice degree in 1997, Valdosta State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice in 2001, and received his Master of Public Safety Administration degree from Columbus State University in 2016. SAC Schwalls has been a P.O.S.T. certified instructor since 2007. He is also a graduate of the Georgia Law Enforcement Command College at Columbus State University.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is comprised of three divisions: the Georgia Crime Information Center, the Crime Laboratory, and the Investigative Division. The agency has 808 employees and a FY21 budget of $98.8 million. SAC Schwalls is assigned to the Investigative Division.

SAC Schwalls is from Tifton, GA, where he also currently resides.