What Will 49% of NC District Attorneys Have In Common?
On January 15, 2007, Moore County will become the 35th local prosecutorial district in North Carolina. Currently Moore County is in the same district as Randolph and Yates County but the North Carolina General Assembly recently provided funds to make Moore County a single prosecutorial district. As such, Governor Mike Easley will appoint a District Attorney to serve the new district. This appointment will bring the total of NC District Attorneys, who were first appointed to office by Governor Easley, or his predecessors as Governor, to at least seventeen.
It is well known that Durham County’s interim DA was appointed last year by Governor Easley. While some doubt has been cast on the prospects of asking the Governor to again appoint a DA for Durham County in light of the poor choice he made in his selection Mike Nifong, it should be noted that the appointment of a District Attorney is not an unfamiliar responsibility, nor a new process, for the Governor.
In addition to Durham and Moore Counties, the fifteen other prosecutorial districts that will be represented, as of January 15, by District Attorneys who were first appointed (some have since been elected to retain their appointments) include:
- Prosecutorial District #03A - Honorable W. Clark Everett, DA
- Prosecutorial District #03B - Honorable Scott Thomas, DA
- Prosecutorial District #06B - Honorable Valerie Asbell, DA
- Prosecutorial District #07 - Honorable Howard Boney, Jr., DA
- Prosecutorial District #09 - Honorable Sam Currin, DA
- Prosecutorial District #09A - Honorable Joel Brewer, DA
- Prosecutorial District #10 - Honorable Colon Willoughby, Jr., DA
- Prosecutorial District #15A - Honorable Robert Johnson, DA
- Prosecutorial District #15B - Honorable James R. Woodall, Jr., DA
- Prosecutorial District #16A - Honorable Kristy Newton, DA
- Prosecutorial District #17A - Honorable Belinda Foster, DA
- Prosecutorial District #18 - Honorable Doug Henderson, DA
- Prosecutorial District #20 - Honorable Michael Parker, DA
- Prosecutorial District #23 - Honorable Tom Horner, DA
- Prosecutorial District #30 - Honorable Michael Bonfoey, DA
In addition to the list above, former Durham County District Attorney, Judge Jim Hardin and former Guilford County District Attorney, Judge Stuart Albright were also, initially, appointed to the office of District Attorney.
Considering that nearly half of all NC District Attorneys have been appointed to office by the Governor, it would appear that the appointment of a District Attorney is a relatively routine executive responsibility, one that Governor Easley appears to have attended to well, with one glaring exception.
3 comments:
It would be a real stetch to have Nifong introduced as Honorable Mike Nifong.
Let's give Nifong a
"Dishonorable Discharge" from the DA's office on Election Day!
If Nifong gets less than 50% of the vote, will there have to be a runoff? If not, we are screwed as he will win due to Monk and Cheek splitting the anti-Nifong vote, while Nifong is guaranteed the ostrich vote (head in the sand).
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