I suppose this is reasonable enough.
On the heels of unprecedented scrutiny of the Harris County District Attorney's Office, interim District Attorney Ken Magidson won approval from Commissioners Court on Tuesday to create a public information office at a cost of about $270,000 a year.In documents submitted to the court, Magidson said the office's current policy of allowing investigators and assistant district attorneys to talk directly with the media has become difficult to supervise. He described his plan for a public information attorney and public information officer to serve as the "face and voice" of the office in his absence and said they would serve as the liaison between the news media and the staff.
Magidson insisted Tuesday that the change would not restrict the flow of information, even as his general counsel, who is acting as the office's spokesman until the division is created, said access to assistant district attorneys would be limited.
"We're just trying to alleviate a problem in the office, and that is, we're not able to get the kind of responses in a timely and professional manner I want," Magidson said. "That's all."
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In Harris County, reporters currently can contact assistant district attorneys directly to ask them about cases they are handling. After a trial ends, prosecutors often hold impromptu press conferences in the hallway of the courtroom to discuss the verdict.
Scott Durfee, the general counsel for the district attorney's office, said the new policy would route reporters' questions through the public information office, and prosecutors' post-verdict comments would be carefully crafted by the media specialists in consultation with the district attorney. In some instances, only a written statement would be provided, he said.
"It's not going to be the prosecutors' call any more as to what gets said or not said," Durfee said. "It's going to be the district attorney's call."
When told that Magidson said prosecutors would be free to comment, as long as they observed all ethical and legal guidelines, Durfee deferred to his boss.
"Obviously, this is a work in progress," he said.