Prosecutor Temporarily Running Dallas DA's Office Resigns as Swearing in of New Appointee Nears

The prosecutor running the Dallas County district attorney's office has resigned.First Assistant DA Messina Madson on Friday announced to her staff that she is quitting, but it was not immediately clear when her last day would be.Madson ran the DA's office during the frequent absences of former DA Susan Hawk, and has been in charge since Hawk's resignation."It is with a sad heart that I notify you that I turned in my resignation this morning," she said in a note to her staff. "You have each been an absolute pleasure to work with."Hawk quit in September to focus on her mental health.Madson's resignation is not unexpected. Gov. Gregg Abbott last week appointed former Dallas County criminal courts judge Faith Johnson as district attorney. Johnson is expected to be sworn in on January 2, and will likely want to hire her own first assistant.Madson had applied for the appointment to fill the remaining years of Hawk's term, but the fact that she'd voted as a Democrat would have made her an unattractive candidate for the Republican governor. Madson said earlier this year that she voted in the Democratic primary for the county judicial races, a common practice in Dallas legal circles because that party dominates countywide offices.She is a veteran prosecutor who joined the office in 2004 after graduating from law school at Southern Methodist University.Johnson has been a Republican for decades. When she takes office, she'll be the first black woman to fill that post.Before her resignation, Hawk had been away from the DA's office seeking treatment for weeks at a time throughout her term, which began in January 2015.  Continue reading...