Local defense attorney Brent Bowen has announced his intention to run for the position of Denton County District Attorney. He will be facing three-term incumbent Paul Johnson in the Republican primary in March 2018. Bowen has previously served as assistant county attorney in the Johnson County Attorney’s Office and assistant district attorney in the Denton County District Attorney’s Office. He unsuccessfully ran for Denton County DA in 2010. In the video interview Mr. Bowen talks about his reasons for running and his thoughts about prosecuting crimes in the county. The following information comes from some sections of Mr. Bowen’s website: www.brentbowenforda.com
“I am fourth generation prosecutor and I want to lead the Denton County DA’s office. I have handled cases from traffic tickets to felony trials, to writing briefs and arguing in front of the court of appeals. I am a family man with two kids who attend school in Denton County. I want to make Denton safe again I want to work with community and police to make our communities safer I have worked in 3 prosecutor offices before I went into private practice. I have been a defense attorney so I know what training prosecutors are lacking and need. As DA I will work to make this one of the best DA’s offices in the state.”
The issues mentioned on his website include: “Innovation and Technology – Denton County has experienced exponential growth, and we need to be able to adapt case statistics to help in prosecutions and dealing with the criminal element. Denton County needs to lead the state in innovation in handling problems with the criminal justice system. Under the right leadership, we can improve case filings from currently being 9 to 12 months to much more rapid pace, such as 24 to 72 hours.”
“Specialty Courts – The Specialty Courts in Denton County are not being effectively utilized. Denton County is waiting for other counties to implement these courts before they are effectively used in Denton County. We must improve the domestic violence court and make treatment a priority early on, to prevent crimes later.”
“Restore integrity to the DA’s office – It is high time that the integrity of the Denton County District Attorney’s office is restored. There are numerous examples of mismanagement, lack of leadership and of having no real standard of conduct. Some of these include a Denton County prosecutor violating the law, getting sanctioned for it, and a murderer goes free. Meanwhile, this prosecutor continued to keep their job, making over $100,000 (paid for by hardworking taxpayers). Another incident involves the Court of Appeals recognizing that Denton County has still not solved the problem with turning over evidence in cases. These and other issues will be debated during the course of the campaign.”
“Soft on crime – Zero death penalty verdicts sought by the longtime incumbent DA’s office in 12 years of the current administration. Former Prosecutor who had his own issues resigned because he felt like the DA was soft on crime and wanted criminals to go free Sex offenders / Murders / Domestic predators have all gone free under Paul Johnson.”
Bob Weir is a former NYPD officer, long-time Flower Mound resident and former local newspaper editor.
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