EDITOR’S NOTE: Both Bay City newspapers reported District Attorney Steven Reis’ challenges in hiring an assistant district attorney (ADA) in last week’s editions.
A recent success, unfortunately, turned to frustration as the most recent ADA applicant withdrew.
Reis contacted both papers to explain the situation.
Gentlemen:
I appreciate both newspapers generating articles about the ongoing difficulty our county has had in obtaining applicants for prosecutor openings in our office.
As I mentioned in commissioner’s court the other day, one of our prosecutors (James Perl) left in December and it is that position we were seeking to fill.
I also mentioned that another prosecutor in my office (Mike Ulak) is leaving at the end of this month for a position in Fort Bend County.
The challenges we face in attracting attorneys into prosecution are not unique to our county. Although I certainly believe we are at some disadvantage in salary structure, the commissioners’ vote on Monday showed the court’s sensitivity to that concern.
However, prosecutor’s offices across the state seem to be experiencing similar difficulties in attracting attorneys into prosecution.
I have recently spoken to the district attorneys in Brazoria (Tom Selleck), Fort Bend (Brian Middleton), Galveston (Jack Roady) and other counties about similar challenges.
All of these offices, like ours, have openings and few applicants.
In speaking with the executive director of our professional association (Texas District & County Attorneys Association), this issue is cropping up around the State.
We, in Matagorda County, are still attempting to fill both vacancies in our office - the person who expressed interest in starting in February and whose salary was approved on Monday HAS DECLINED and has, instead, accepted a position in Bexar County.
His withdrawal came to us only yesterday after having not responded to our notification of the Commissioners Court vote on Monday.
As a result, although both papers reported what we believed to be positive news for our county, it turns out that we are now in the process of seeking attorneys to fill not one, but two positions.
You may know that the DA’s office must provide court support to the following:
23rd Judicial District Court (Ben Hardin)
130th Judicial District Court (Denise Fortenberry)
Matagorda County Court (Nate McDonald)
Matagorda Juvenile Court
Matagorda Truancy Court
Justice of the Peace #1 (Jason Sanders)
Justice of the Peace #2 (Ronald Le Blanc)
Justice of the Peace #3 (Amy Tapia)
Justice of the Peace #4 (Mark Finlay)
Justice of the Peace #6 (James Powell)
This is in addition to providing legal services as required by the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure to all law enforcement agencies in Matagorda County.
We have already alerted all the Courts of the staffing issues which will inevitably create difficulties in supporting court dates which conflict with one another.
Steven E. Reis
District Attorney
