Antoher Chiefly Departure

Tomorrow marks the last day on the job for 185th District Court Chief, Kristin Guiney.

Kristin, a 9 year veteran of the D.A.'s Office, is yet another tremendous loss for the County. Coming in as a pre-commit during the Summer of 2001, she established herself first as leader within her "starting class", and subsequently as a leader within the Office, as a whole.

Managing her duties in the Trial Bureau, Kristin became known as a highly skilled prosecutor in front of juries. She combined the legal knowledge to do research on complex issues without constantly pestering the Appellate Division (something I was very guilty of during my time there), and also maintaining a down-to-Earth and very common-sense approach in trying her cases. She was not only respected by her peers, but also by the "higher ups" in the Office.

Kristin was the kind of prosecutor that the Office needed.

Not only did she do an outstanding job in the duties assigned to her as a prosecutor, she sought out ways to make the Office better. When specialized projects needed analysis, she was the first person who volunteered.

Okay, well, maybe once or twice she got "volunteered" for a project by someone who was being lazy named Murray, but you get the point. She studied other D.A. Offices around the country to make requests for more personnel within the HCDA, and her work resulted in an impressive display to the Commissioner's Court that got the Office's budget substantially raised for many more (much needed) prosecutors.

She was the kind of person who wore the title of Public Servant proudly, and she embodied everything one would hope in a government lawyer. She was hard-working, honest, and talented. The work she did for the Office was out of a genuine love for the place that she worked.

So, it is very bittersweet to see Guiney headed out into private practice.

It's a tremendous loss to the Office and the County, but we all know she did more than her fair share for that general public during her tenure.

I wish her the very best of luck.

And for those prosecutors that may be facing Guiney in the future, make sure you cross your "t"s, dot your "i"s and are very, very prepared.

Because you can bet your ass that Guiney will be.