Dallas District Attorney Susan Hawk. image: youtube.com
Over the last year, Dallas District Attorney Susan Hawk has taken repeated long leaves from work as District Attorney in order to seek treatment for depression. While her political enemies have tried to push her resignation, most media and political observers have been patient and supportive of her.
However, the tide is turning. The voices suggesting Hawk may need to step down given the long absences from work is growing. But what is the formal process for replacing Susan Hawk should she resign as District Attorney?
According to Lone Star Project, the replacement process is complicated and changes depending upon the date when Hawk resigns. If Hawk does this swiftly she can ensure the voters of Dallas County select her replacement instead of a hand-picked placeholder chosen by Governor Gregg Abbott, who lost Dallas County in 2014 by 11 percent.
Susan Hawk was elected Dallas County DA in 2014, and her current term expires at the end of 2018. If she resigns, will there be a 2016 election to replace her?
The short answer is maybe, depending upon when she resigns and the action taken by Governor Abbott. Here’s how the fairly complicated process plays out under our state’s statute:
If Hawk resigns ON or BEFORE August 14tha new DA will be elected to fulfill the remainder of her term in the November 8, 2016 General Election. However, since August 14th, is a Sunday, this operative date could be moved to the previous business day, Friday, August 12th or the next business day, August 15th.
If Hawk resigns her post AFTER August 22nd, the Dallas DA race will not be part of the November 8, 2016 General Election. Governor Abbott would appoint Hawk’s replacement, and his appointee would serve unelected for the remainder of her unexpired term (December 31, 2018).
If Hawk resigns ON or BEFORE August 22nd but AFTER August 14th, Governor Abbott can, and almost certainly will, “game” the process by failing to properly acknowledge the resignation for the allowed eight business days, during which the August 22nd deadline would pass and Abbott could put his unelected appointee in place for over two years.
If there’s a DA race in November, how are nominees selected?
Since the Texas primary has passed, the nominees for a November DA election would be decided by the Democratic and Republican party executive committees (precinct chairs) in Dallas County.
County Party Chairs must select the candidates NO LATER than August 29th . The nominees would be determined by winning majority support from executive committee members present and voting.
