Tom Hennies graduated from Rapid City High School in 1957 and became a firefighter for the Chicago Northwestern Railroad.
After a year in Japan, Hennies was reassigned to South Korea, where he remained until discharge from active service.
[3][4] In 1984, Hennies was named police chief of Rapid City, and established a partnership with the Pennington County Sheriff's Office.
[5][6] Hennies stepped down as police chief in 2000 to focus on his duties as a member of the South Dakota House of Representatives, to which he had first been elected in 1998.
[2] In his final reelection campaign in 2004, Hennies finished first in District 32, ahead of fellow Republican Alan Hanks, Democrats Mike Wilson and Anita Paige.