Dallas County's judicial races are heating up, generating controversy about politics, loyalty and influence as numerous prosecutors and public defenders emerge to challenge sitting judges.

District Attorney Craig Watkins already has enacted a "resign to run" policy for his prosecutors who are seeking judicial office.

But Chief Public Defender Lynn Richardson's call for a similar rule has ignited controversy within her office. Her lawyers, some of whom have been campaigning for more than a year, are upset about what they call an unfair last-minute change in the rules.

At least seven assistant public defenders have indicated they are seeking judicial office in the 2010 elections. Five prosecutors in the DA's office want judicial positions, Watkins said.

County commissioners postponed a vote Tuesday morning to further study the public defender's proposed policy. Most commissioners want the policy to apply to all county departments.

Two assistant public defenders asked commissioners Tuesday not to pass the policy.

John Carlough said he announced his intention to run 17 months ago. He said he told everyone in his office of his plans and didn't learn of the proposed resignation requirement until recently.

The choice he and others now face is to "leave a job we love or give up a dream we all have," he said. It's tantamount, he said, to a marathon runner being told with five miles to go that he must finish with his shoelaces tied together.

Jennifer Balido told commissioners she and others in the public defender's office have spent a lot of money and time campaigning. She said a policy is needed to balance free speech and free association rights with the commissioners' concerns.

Commissioner Maurine Dickey agreed with those sentiments. "It's not fair to give people one set of rules and then change the rules in the middle of the game," she said.

County Judge Jim Foster said he favors enacting a resign-to-run policy that becomes effective next election cycle so everyone has fair notice far enough in advance.

Richardson said she supports such a delay because scheduling could be a nightmare if all the judicial candidates in her office request leave next spring for the primaries.

"It could be potentially devastating to the office," she said. "I have to make sure defendants are getting good quality representation."

A key reason to enact a resign-to-run policy, Richardson said, is to keep incumbent judges happy.

She said at least one judge has indicated that she will not use any public defenders in her courtroom unless the policy is enacted.

"Several judges have complained about the lack of trust for the office because we have so many attorneys running against them, and one judge has threatened to stop using the office as a result," Richardson e-mailed a county official.

Judge Angela King of County Criminal Court No. 6 is facing challenges from two assistant public defenders, neither of whom work in her court.

"You expressed to me that this has caused distrust of the office and has affected your ability to work with us," Richardson wrote in an e-mail to King. "You have indicated to me that having public defenders campaign against you would cause you to be distrustful of any assistant public defender assigned to your court."

Richardson said King confirmed that she would reconsider using public defenders if the resign-to-run policy is enacted. King didn't respond to a call seeking comment.

Other judges also are miffed about having challengers from the public defender's office.

"I have had difficulty placing certain attorneys in courts because they have a reputation for running against incumbents," Richardson wrote in an e-mail.

If judges don't trust the public defender's office, they may appoint more expensive private lawyers, which would drive up the county's indigent defense costs, Richardson said in the e-mail.

Richardson, whose position is an appointed one, said she wants her attorneys to concentrate solely on representing their clients.

Richardson said that over the years, unwritten policies in her office about resigning to run have come and gone.

The previous chief public defender, Brad Lollar, did not have such a requirement. And in 2006, when Lollar was in charge of the office, two assistant public defenders ran successfully for judge positions – Rick Magnis and Mark Stoltz.

Commissioner John Wiley Price said he would like to see a resign-to-run policy apply to all departments, although he acknowledged the Commissioners' Court can't tell other elected officials what to do.

Watkins said he enacted such a policy for his office about six months ago to eliminate influence peddling at the Frank Crowley criminal courthouse downtown.

Watkins said that before he was DA, he remembers seeing defense attorneys negotiating plea deals with prosecutors who were judge candidates and then handing them envelopes with campaign contributions.

"For our system to work better overall, it's a policy that needs to be in place throughout the court system," Watkins said.

Sheriff Lupe Valdez said she would support a resign-to-run policy for her department. In 2008, one of her deputies ran against her.

Richardson said the commissioners should also consider a policy prohibiting county employees from publicly endorsing a judicial candidate because of pressure her office gets from incumbent judges.

Judges have asked many in her office, she said, to attend their campaign receptions, place campaign signs on their lawns and accompany them to campaign functions.

"No one wants to risk making a judge angry, distrustful or disappointed in us, especially if we have worked in a court for years and want to continue to work there and to maintain a civil relationship with that judge," Richardson wrote in an e-mail.

Price said he would not support that policy because he said employees have a right to support candidates on their own time.

Dallas County's chief public defender is proposing a policy that would require her lawyers to resign before running for judicial office. Details of the proposal:

•Assistant public defenders cannot publicly support or campaign for a judicial candidate in a contested race if that lawyer or others from the public defender's office are assigned to that court.

•Assistant public defenders may run for an "open bench" with no incumbent seeking re-election as long as they notify their boss in writing in advance, refrain from campaigning during the work day, take vacation time to campaign and notify clients of any possible conflicts of interest.

•Assistant public defenders must resign before running for a judge position in any court that may have a public defender assigned to it, unless it's an "open bench" with no incumbent.

•A relationship between judges and public defenders is built on trust. Public defenders know a lot about how judges run their courtrooms, such as how hard they work, what hours they keep and how they treat staff and defendants.

•"If the relationship between the assistant public defenders and the judges becomes compromised by a real or perceived suspicion that the public defender's office is either grooming or encouraging lawyers to run against judges in judicial elections, the element of trust and confidence in the office dissipates and there is a conflict of interest."

•"If assistant public defenders are allowed to run for judge while employed by Dallas County, judges may be hesitant to use certain attorneys based on political affiliation."

SOURCE: Dallas County public defender's office