3 seek Houston DA post

WARNER ROBINS — The special election for the post of Houston County district attorney is down to the wire among three candidates.

The candidates are: Arthur Creque, 44, chief assistant solicitor for Houston State Court; George Hartwig, 51, an assistant district attorney for Houston County; and Rabb Wilkerson, 41, the current Houston County district attorney.

In his current role, Creque prosecutes accused offenders for a variety of misdemeanors, while Hartwig serves as legal counsel for the Department of Human Services, Division of Child Support Services.

Wilkerson is responsible for the prosecution of felony crimes as well as overseeing the operation of the District Attorney’s Office. He left private practice when appointed to fill the post in July.

Arthur Creque

Creque, who has been a prosecutor in State Court for the past 12 years, including 10 as chief assistant solicitor, proposes doing away with pre-trial diversion in Superior Court if elected.

Pre-trial diversion is an alternative to prosecution of accused offenders based on Georgia law Section 15-18-80, in which a qualifying individual may serve a probationary term and if completed successfully, charges against the individual are dismissed. The person also may apply to have the charges expunged from his or her record.

Creque, who noted using pre-trial diversion is at the discretion of the district attorney, said he believes the program rewards accused offenders for bad acts.

Creque’s asked if the person is innocent of the charges, then why would they agree to a probationary period, and if they are guilty, why should they get a free pass?

Creque also said cases need to be tried in Superior Court with increased speed and efficiency. He said that the Houston County jail is full of defendants who are awaiting trial or revocation of probation, which is costly to the taxpayer who foots the bill for housing inmates.

Also, Creque said the district attorney’s office needs to be more aggressive in opposing bonds, especially for people accused of child molestation, for example.

While Creque acknowledged that the decision to grant bond is made by the Superior Court judges based on statutory guidelines, he argued that too many consent bonds are agreed upon between prosecutors and defense attorneys.

Creque said he would rather aggressively oppose bond in court and lose than agree to bonds that he believes should not be issued. He also argued that if bond is granted in spite of objections, the next best solution is then to prosecute the case quickly so that the accused offender is not out on the streets for an extended period of time awaiting trial.

George Hartwig

Hartwig said he is running based on his experience and record as veteran felony prosecutor. Major felony cases Hartwig said he has prosecuted include homicide, robbery, child molestation and major drug cases. He noted that he is the only candidate in the race that has that type of experience prosecuting felony cases.

Having served nine years in the Houston County District Attorney’s Office, Hartwig noted he started at the bottom, learned the ropes and worked his way up. He most recently served as the chief assistant district attorney before moving to child support enforcement as an assistant district attorney when Wilkerson was appointed district attorney.

Hartwig, who also has a background in law enforcement, including in undercover narcotics investigations, said serving as a prosecutor is his passion. Before becoming a prosecutor, Hartwig practiced law in Macon for 10 years but said he found that he was missing his calling of public service — which he said led him to leave private practice and become a prosecutor.

If elected, Hartwig said he does not plan any major changes at the District Attorney’s Office, noting that it already is set up well with a strong staff, although much of the staff are young prosecutors.

Hartwig noted that he has the experience needed to lead and train his staff, whereas both his opponents, he said, would require on-the-job training by those in positions below them.

Rabb Wilkerson

Wilkerson, who has served as district attorney for the past three months, was appointed by Gov. Sonny Perdue in July to fill the post until the special election following the mid-March resignation of Kelly Burke.

Wilkerson said the appointment has given him the opportunity to do more than hypothetically talk about what he would do if elected but to actually run the District Attorney’s Office. He noted he’s not afraid to make tough decisions.

On the other hand, the demands of the post have left him with less time to campaign and to meet and greet as many voters one-on-one as he’d like to, he said.

Since he has been in the post, Wilkerson said he sees a need to move cases more speedily along through Superior Court.

As for any changes, Wilkerson said he expects to cross-train prosecutors to handle all sorts of cases instead of the way it has been done in the past with different prosecutors handling different areas. He also plans to allow young prosecutors to sit second chair on major felony cases such as murders.

Wilkerson said he is running for district attorney because he wants to invest his time and talents into the community in such a way as to “maintain its status as a great place to live and to raise a family.”

With 15 years experience in private practice, Wilkerson said he brings a unique perspective as a former criminal defense attorney to the District Attorney’s Office.

Wilkerson said he plans to encourage prosecutors to be more involved in the community and explore possible partnerships with community agencies.

He also plans to look at what sort of grant funding may be available.

While Wilkerson said he is not sure what is available yet, one area he would like to explore are programs aimed at keeping juveniles and young adults from becoming career criminals.

To contact writer Becky Purser, call 256-9559.

This story was originally published October 19, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "3 seek Houston DA post."