About Derek
The Honorable Derek K. Hopkins has spent the last 12 years serving as the Harford County Register of Wills. He has actively participated in many committees within the Register of Wills Association and has served as the Treasurer of the Maryland Register of Wills Association.
His 8 year record of service to Harford County has shown him to be a fiscal conservative while promoting to the citizens of Harford County why it is important to have a Will and educating them on what the Register of Wills office does on a daily basis. Each day his office works hard to be compassionate and understanding to those who have lost a loved one, while at the same time holding those responsible who have not performed their duties as Personal Representative or others who have tried to circumvent the probate process.
Prior to being elected, he was a full time auctioneer, appraiser and a third generation real estate agent, who has focused on estate services. Hopkins is a graduate of North Harford High School, where he served in the FFA and as Maryland State FFA Vice President. After high school, he attended Virginia Tech with a focus on business management, and worked in the Swine Research Center. Hopkins is a graduate of Missouri Auction School, Kansas City, MO. He is also a graduate of the three-year Certified Auctioneer Institute at Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.
Hopkins is a past 4-H member, and has been an active volunteer in 4-H for years. He joined the Darlington Volunteer Fire Company at the age of 16, where h served as a firefighter and EMS member. After buying a home in Pylesville, he joined the Whiteford Volunteer Fire Company, where he is an active firefighter, EMS driver, and current president of the company. Hopkins has served in many other roles in the company as well. During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, he was sent by FMA to be deployed in Mississippi where he served over a month helping the citizens of the Gulf Coast. Hopkins also served on a number of other community groups. He is a member of Harford County’s Agricultural Advisory Board and is for saving the agricultural industry.
Derek grew up on the Hopkins Family farm in Darlington, where he says he learned his hard work ethic from his great-grandmother Hazel Hopkins and grandfather Harry G. Hopkins. The family farm is now in farm preservation. Hopkins resides in Pylesville with his wife Katrina, who has worked for the State of Maryland’s Court System for over 18 years. They have two children – Tim, 17, and Emma, 15. The family spends a lot of time now working on their small farm, where they have beef cattle, and chickens. Derek is the founder of the Char Hope Foundation which helps individuals that are fighting addiction.
By Authority: Friends of Derek Hopkins, Taylor James Gomez, Treasurer.
