Wednesday, April 24, 2024
If Robert Carter is chosen by the governor’s office to be Hood County’s next district attorney, it might be because he has friends in all the right places – maybe even the governor’s appointments office.
It won’t be because he has the most criminal law experience among the field of candidates vying to replace longtime DA Rob Christian, who resigned last week.
In fact, Carter has no experience in that area. He is an oil and gas attorney.
But while Carter is lacking where a prosecution background is concerned, he has no shortage of support from local Tea Party/Republican leaders. Several of them wrote recommendation letters on his behalf, heavily touting his dedication to the party.
Two of those letters were from elected officials – state Rep. Mike Lang, R-Granbury, and Precinct 4 Commissioner Dave Eagle.
Carter’s supporters are entitled to submit such letters, regardless of whether he has experience that would suit him well as a district attorney.
Although the messages focused strongly on party-related work and allegiance, supporters also praised him for his character and attorney skills.
But documents obtained by the Hood County News through an Open Records request indicate that, while messages of support were also submitted on behalf of some of the other candidates, the letters for Carter seemed to have been particularly well received.
Typed letters from Appointments Office Director Peggy Venable were sent to those who had submitted recommendation letters on behalf of candidates, acknowledging that they had been received.
But acknowledgment letters sent to three of Carter’s supporters – Lang, Eagle and Republican Party Chair Nathan Criswell – bore handwritten messages, presumably written by Venable.
Venable did not respond before press time to email and voicemail messages from the HCN seeking to confirm that the notes were written by her. However, the notes were on letters that also bore her handwritten signature, or a signature stamp.
“Thanks, Dave! Come see me” was written on the letter to Eagle.
“Thank you for that input!” was written in ink on Criswell’s acknowledgment letter.
And scrawled on Lang’s letter was this: “Thank you for your recommendation - that means a lot!”
Does it?
If block walking, door knocking or political fundraising are given equal or more weight than criminal law experience in the governor’s appointment of the next Hood County district attorney, is the public well served?
Robert Vick, former Hood County Democratic Party chair, doesn’t think so.
“I’ve never considered whether there is a political litmus test for district attorneys,” he said. “It just never entered my mind.”
THE CONTENDERS
Based on date stamps, Carter appears to have been the first candidate to submit paperwork to the governor’s appointments office. His application is stamped Jan. 11.
Under “Employment History,” Carter listed MD American Energy, Percheron Energy and Chesapeake Energy.
Others candidates, in order of filing, are:
■ Bryan Bufkin, a local attorney who graduated from Granbury High School and worked from 2013-2016 as an assistant district attorney for Johnson and Somervell counties;
■ Deanna Belknap, a former private investigator and former first assistant in the Hood County Attorney’s office, where she worked CPS, Family Violence and criminal cases;
■ Ryan Sinclair, former intern in the Limestone and Ellis County District Attorneys’ offices and current Acting District Attorney for Hood County.
■ Stuart Neal, former assistant county attorney for Hood County, former assistant district attorney for Johnson County and former Granbury City Attorney.
Candidate paperwork includes a 9-page Judicial Appointment Questionnaire. One of the questions pertains to the percentage of litigation experience in the categories of domestic relations, general civil, criminal, personal injury (plaintiff), personal injury (defendant) and “other.”
Carter listed that 25 percent of his litigation experience has been in domestic relations and 75 percent has been general civil. He put nothing in the blank for criminal litigation.
Here are the other candidates’ responses to that question:
■ Bufkin: 10 percent general civil, 90 percent criminal;
■ Belknap: 40 percent domestic relations, 50 percent criminal, 10 percent “other.” On the blank for “other,” Belknap wrote: “This includes juvenile, mental health, environmental.” She also noted that the percentage she listed for domestic relations included family violence protective orders and CPS cases;
■ Sinclair: 100% criminal; and
■ Neal: 10 percent general civil, 90 percent criminal.
After a review of the paperwork revealed Carter to be the only candidate lacking in criminal law experience, the HCN reached out to him for comment.
He noted that he has practiced law in Texas since 2006, managed a “politically-elected” office in Hood County, served as Hood County’s Republican Party chair and “managed a professional staff.”
He stated, “I feel completely (comfortable) with any challenges that come my way as the process of practicing law is the same regardless of the area of law.”
WHO VS. WHAT YOU KNOW?
No appointment for the DA’s office had been announced by the time the HCN went to press Friday, and it is not known when a decision will be made.
Sinclair is running the office for now. By law, he said, the first assistant serves as acting district attorney when a DA resigns and an appointment by the governor has not yet been made.
Whoever wins the appointment will have to seek election from voters if they want to keep it. The district attorney position will be on the ballot next year in the 2020 presidential election.
Nan Tolson, Gov. Greg Abbott’s deputy press secretary, said that there is “no set time-line” for the appointment selection.
Polson told the HCN that the governor seeks “the most qualified individual” when making appointments. She said that interviews will be conducted and the appointee will be confirmed by the Texas Senate.
It remains to be seen whether Carter’s political advantage will outweigh his experience-related disadvantage.
Letters of support for him that were on file at the time of the HCN’s Open Records request included party loyalists Rene Poe, who is listed among Venable’s friends on Face-book, and precinct chair Melanie Graft.
Poe’s message of support was sent to Venable via email with the subject line “Good morning, my friend.”
In it, Poe pulled her previous support of Sinclair and shifted it to Carter. She stated that she continues to view Sinclair as “a great young man” but said that Carter “is more mature.” Poe also noted that she had reached the decision after doing “lots of research.”
Lang’s letter in support of Carter praised his work in “the political arena” but also noted that Carter has handled property tax cases and has managed a staff of 10 and a $10 million budget.
The HCN reached out to Lang for comment about Carter’s lack of criminal law experience.
The lawmaker was in Austin because of the legislative session that is underway but provided this statement, which was emailed through his chief of staff, Zach Maxwell:
“Robert Carter is the only one to personally reach out to me and ask for my support. Robert is a good Christian man with moral character and has a history of standing up for what is right. I trust that he will make a great District Attorney.”
Lang added, “As far as experience, President Trump didn’t have any experience and look how great he is doing.”
kcruz@hcnews.com | 817-573-7066, ext. 258
