Dallas County DA Resigns, Yielding Yet Another Plot Twist To Drama-Filled Office

DALLAS, TX — In the real-life drama unfolding at the Dallas County District Attorney's office, the already-layered plot thickened on Tuesday.

Dallas County DA Susan Hawk resigned Tuesday after less than two years in office, saying she needed to focus on her mental health. As the Dallas Morning News put it, her brief tenure "...was overshadowed by erratic behavior and three long-term hospitalizations for depression and a mood disorder."

"It is with a heavy heart that I must tender my resignation as Dallas County District Attorney," she wrote to Gov. Greg Abbott in announcing her resignation. "It's been an honor and a privilege to serve this office and the citizens of Dallas County alongside you, but my health needs my undivided attention."

The resignation was not a surprise. Many in Dallas had called for the resignation of the 46-year-old DA, citing absences and erratic behavior. Shortly after joining the race, she left the campaign trail for what she said was needed back surgery, according to the newspaper. It turned out to be a month-long stint at a rehab facility to combat a reliance on prescription drugs, the paper subsequently reported.

The swift fall from grace preceded great promise. A virtual unknown, she was catapulted into the high-profile position with promises of change and a premium to be placed on integrity, the newspaper noted. And she was a trailblazer and rising star: The first Republican elected to a countywide race in more than a decade, and the first woman elected to the DA's position.

Her predecessor, too, was a trailblazer. But he, too, was sidelined with personal demons.

Hawk took office in January 2015 after Democrat Craig Watkins was drummed out of office after two terms. The first black DA in Texas, Watkins gradually self-destructed under the weight of scandal. The Dallas Morning News ticked off the controversies: His chief investigator recently pleaded guilty in federal court for taking a bribe to have a case dismissed; Watkins himself rear-ended another car while in his personal vehicle, using county money in negotiating a secret settlement; he bought, and then lost, the office's candy-red Porsche; an attorney later alleged the DA's Office under Watkins threatened criminal charges against the man who bought it if it wasn't returned.

Once close friends with Watkins' wife, Tanya, Hawk quit her post as a state district judge in the fall of 2013 to run against Watkins, the Morning News noted.

Hawk's fellow Republican, Abbott, is now poised to appoint a successor to fill her former spot. What would normally be viewed as a routine duty in the event of such vacancies, that imminent appointment is also adding to the drama.

Had Hawk stepped down earlier — to tend to health issues that had been suffused with urgency well before her resignation — voters would've elected someone to fill her shoes. Now, the timing of her departure yields too narrow a window to stage an election in accordance with state laws requiring advance notification before being held.

Democrat Pete Schulte — who has since announced plans to run for DA in 2018 — questioned the timing of Hawk's resignation, which enables Abbott to appoint another Republican. A fierce partisan, Abbot will likely do just that. For anyone who knows anything about Texas politics, this is being seen as something of a foregone conclusion.

If Hawk truly needed to focus on her health, Schulte reckons, she should have stepped down before the Aug. 26 deadline in order to stage an election this year.

"It robs the citizens of Dallas County of an election in November to be able to choose her successor," he said, as quoted in the Dallas Morning News. "Her actions are all about what's best for Susan Hawk."

That '80s show, "Dallas," kept some of us of a certain age on the edge of our seats each week, what with the implausible plot twists, scandals, unpredictability of its antagonists and back-dealing machinations of its various characters. Yet the immortal J.R. Ewing has got nothing on the real-life goings-on in Dallas County.

Read the full story at Dalllas Morning News >>

>>> Image of Susan Hawk via Dallas County District Attorney's Office, image of Gov. Greg Abbott via governor's office website