Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot says the biggest question after his surprising primary defeat isn’t about his own future. It’s about the office he’s leaving behind.
The two-term incumbent said many of the nearly 600 prosecutors and staff could depart before former felony court Judge Amber Givens takes over in January, raising concerns about turnover and disruption in the DA’s office.
“A lot of long faces,” Creuzot said when asked about the mood there after the primary results became clear.
Creuzot, 68, was upset in the March 3 Democratic primary by Givens, who stepped down from the 282nd District Court in December to challenge him. Givens frequently clashed with Creuzot and his prosecutors during her 11 years on the bench and has vowed to make changes when she takes office.
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Her tenure as a judge was often contentious. The State Commission on Judicial Conduct issued two sanctions against her over actions and behavior on the bench, decisions she is appealing.
Because no Republicans, independents or other party candidates filed for the race, Givens will not face a challenger in November and is effectively assured of becoming the county’s next district attorney. She did not respond to a request for comment.
Creuzot, who entered the primary with a major financial edge and a string of prominent endorsements, wouldn’t say whether he will vote for Givens in November.
“Why would you ask me that question?” he asked. “I’ll decide my vote when I get there.”
The loss marked the first defeat of Creuzot’s nearly three-decade political career. He was appointed in 1991 by then-Gov. Ann Richards to a Dallas County felony district court and went on to win seven countywide elections, five as judge and two as district attorney.
Among the accomplishments he’s most proud of are diversion programs steering defendants with drug and mental health problems to treatment rather than jail and efforts to reduce overcrowding at the jail and juvenile detention facilities.
As district attorney, Creuzot said he tried to be both a problem solver and a cost cutter.
He cited a 2023 study showing juveniles were spending months in detention awaiting hearings while county leaders weighed building a new $300 million juvenile detention center to ease overcrowding.
His office sped up case processing, moving many cases in weeks instead of months, and he urged police to move away from a “default mode” of sending most juvenile suspects to detention.
“When that population went down, that crisis went away,” he said. The detention center plan was shelved, and Creuzot said he used the savings to secure about $1 million to hire paralegals so each criminal district court now has one assisting prosecutors.
Creuzot discussed the primary, his plans and more during an interview last week with The Dallas Morning News.
Were you surprised by the election results?
Creuzot said he remained “cautiously optimistic” during the campaign but never took the race for granted.
When U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, entered the Senate contest, he said, it was clear “the number of people would change and the makeup of the people,” forcing him to reconsider whether his campaign model, which had worked in past elections, would be enough this time.
He said he repeatedly reminded supporters who told him, “You got this,” that predictions can be wrong. As an example, he pointed to the 2016 presidential race, when “all the polls, all the pollsters, pundits, politicians, the experts” said there was a “95% chance that Hillary Clinton would be president.”
“She never walked inside that White House,” he said.
What have you enjoyed most about the job?
“Working with the staff, trying cases with the younger lawyers,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed that. And I think they get something from me.”
What did you enjoy the least?
“Elections,” he said with a laugh. He said campaigning runs against his natural temperament. “I really am an introvert,” he said, explaining that he has to “turn a switch on to be an extrovert.”
Fundraising, in particular, was difficult.
“The whole idea of raising money is distasteful,” he said. Constant events and appearances, he said, can be draining because he feels he must “turn a switch on and become who I’m not.”
Creuzot said he has heard from mental health professionals that people wired that way can end a day more “emotionally and physically worn out” from repeatedly turning that switch “on and off.”
Should Texas judges be appointed rather than elected?
Creuzot said the issue isn’t simple.
“Judges should be nonpartisan,” he said. But if the person making appointments is “partisan or hyper partisan,” he said, “it doesn’t really make any difference.”
He said some other states use systems that work well, but he doubts Texas would abandon judicial elections.
“When you look at the number of elected officials … it’s overwhelmingly judges,” he said, adding that he doesn’t believe either party would want to give that up. “I don’t think Texas is ready for that.”
What’s next?
Creuzot has started thinking about what he might do after his term ends, though he said it’s still early.
“I don’t know that I have to or need to stay in Dallas,” he said. His 98-year-old mother is in Houston, where he grew up, as well as several other relatives.
One possibility is teaching. Creuzot said he has trained groups in Texas and other states on how to set up drug courts and has written a curriculum on evidence-based sentencing for judges.
“I may wind up doing something like that,” he said. With his background as a judge and prosecutor who helped implement programs aimed at reducing recidivism, he said the topic “may be a marketable” one.
“We’ll see. Or I could do nothing.”