Moving On

The Harris County District Attorney's Office continues its loss of prosecutors this month with the departures of two District Court Chiefs and a senior Felony Three.  Kevin Petroff, Darin Darby and Jamie Collier Burns have all announced this month that they will be moving on to greener pastures.

Back in the olden days, a felony chief leaving the office was an occurrence that happened maybe once or twice a year.  It is kind of interesting to see that two are leaving in the same week now.

I'm not sure what Darin and Jamie will be doing with their future careers, but Kevin is headed down to Galveston County to be a Felony Division chief.  It is a good match for both him, and District Attorney Jack Roady.  I spoke with Jack on the phone today, and he is very excited to be getting Kevin.

I mean no disrespect to Darin or Jamie, but Kevin's departure from Harris County is a particularly significant loss for the Office.  Despite his uncanny resemblance to Howdy Doody, Kevin was a leader within the Office and his diplomatic abilities had earned him the position of Legislative Liaison under Rosenthal, Magidson, and Lykos.  He was a good chief and a good representative of the Office.  He was a teaching chief who backed up his people -- a character trait that is no longer highly valued there.

This is clearly one of those situations where we can all agree to say that Harris County's loss is Galveston's gain.  I'm sure, as per usual circumstances, the general population will not pay any attention to what members of the rank and file are leaving the D.A.'s Office.

But they should.