County attorney's office reports productive year, adds assistant
BY CRAIG CALDWELL

CRAIG CALDWELL

It has been another very productive year for the Cherokee County Attorney's office. The Cherokee County Attorney's office represents the State of Texas, Texas state agencies and the citizens of Cherokee County in the following types of cases: criminal misdemeanor cases (which includes DWIs, assaults, resisting arrest, etc.), bond forfeitures for defendants who do not show up for court, child protective service cases, adult protective service cases, protective orders from the crisis center, juvenile prosecutions for felony and misdemeanor cases, mental health commitments to the Rusk State Hospital, trials in justice of the peace courts, and appeals from the justice of the peace courts and the municipal courts to the county court.

The most significant news for the county attorney's office this year is the addition of an assistant county attorney. Kelley Peacock came on board on Oct. 1.

She has good prosecution experience and is already proving to be a big help for the office. Additionally, the Commissioners Court approved an additional staff person beginning Oct. 1.

Laurie Beamon, formerly Laurie Cox, was employed in that position and has hit the ground running.

These additions to the already competent and hard working staff, Jackie Gruber and Kristi Dobrovolny, are becoming a skilled working team for the many, many tasks that are part of the daily efforts of the county attorney's office.

The misdemeanor cases are predominantly the heaviest case load with approximately 100 to 115 offense reports coming in on a monthly basis.

The following law enforcement agencies send offense reports to the county attorney's office for processing, filing and trial representation: Cherokee County Sheriff 's Department, Texas Department of Public Safety, the cities of Bullard, Jacksonville, New Summerfield, Reklaw, Rusk, Alto, Wells and the Parks and Wildlife Department, The Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission. These reports are reviewed by Kelley Peacock and me to determine the charge that will be filed and who the witnesses will be for a trial.

There are approximately 35 cases a week filed for mental health commitments to the Rusk State Hospital. Ms. Peacock will take responsibility for these trials and any appeals. We filed 860 new criminal cases this year. Of those 860, 205 cases were DWIs.

That means approximately four DWI cases are filed each week. Prosecution of DWI cases will continue to be a high priority for the coming fiscal year.

The fines and court costs assessed for the past fiscal year (Octobert 2006- September 2007) came to $389,563.

Judge Craig Fletcher became the county court at law judge Jan. 1, 2007.

He and his staff have been innovative in organizing the court dockets and scheduling pre-trial hearings and jury selections.

Because of his efforts and the efforts of the county clerk's office and the community supervision and corrections office, the misdemeanor cases are being worked efficiently and successfully.

I continue to be very grateful for the working relationship this office has with the courts, the staff of each court, the district and county clerks, the community supervision and corrections department, the juvenile services department, the justices of the peace and all of the many law enforcement agencies in Cherokee County.

Craig Caldwell is Cherokee County Attorney.