Seven Judges Hire DA's Wife as Political Consultant

Seven judges who preside over criminal cases have hired the wife of Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins as a political consultant for their 2010 re-election campaigns, a newspaper reported Tuesday.

The Dallas Morning News reports that the State Commission on Judicial Conduct has no problem with the arrangement as long as the candidates don't expect to get something from the DA.

But the head of the nonprofit watchdog group Texans for Public Justice says it poses a conflict of interest.

Tanya Watkins says she contacted the judicial ethics commission before starting Grass Root Strategies in March and got the go-ahead.

Dallas County has specialized courts where judges who hear criminal cases don't preside over other types of cases, making Craig Watkins technically a lawyer in cases heard by the seven judges who hired his wife.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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