Tarrant County district attorney candidates offer different leadership approaches
Tarrant County district attorney candidates Democrat Tiffany Burks and Republican Phil Sorrells have offered starkly different approaches to how they would lead the office.
Burks has 24 years experience as a prosecuting attorney. She served as the assistant DA in Fort Bend County before coming to Tarrant County in 1999, where she served as the felony court chief and the deputy chief over the office’s criminal division.
Sorrells has 25 years experience as a judge in Tarrant County’s misdemeanor court.
Sorrells’ platform has consistently come down to being tough on crime. He has stood behind funding the police amid cries to defund departments both nationally and locally. He said he will “aggressively prosecute” immigrants who are in the country illegally and hold them until they can be deported. He also wants to increase bail amounts to keep criminals off the streets.
Meanwhile, Burks has stuck to her slogan: “People over politics.” In a district attorney’s office with high turnover, she said she would provide the leadership that creates an environment where prosecutors feel like they can use their judgment when hearing cases.
To eliminate a case backlog as a result of the pandemic, Burks wants to conduct a four- to eight- week inventory of cases to see which ones need to be tried and which ones don’t. She stands by legalization of small amounts of marijuana for recreational use and wants to prioritize prosecuting violent crimes and narcotics cases. The backlog was at 38,779 cases as of Oct. 1.
Sharen Wilson, the outgoing DA, endorses Sorrells. She told the Star-Telegram Sorrells is a leader, organized and a hard worker who she thinks understands that judges are in charge of their case management and backlog. Wilson said Sorrells has been a leader with his caseload and taking ownership of it.
“I think that’s what a leader does,” Wilson said. “They take ownership of what the issues are. And for me, case management backlog is clearly a sensitive issue.”
Wilson called Burks an “excellent trial attorney.”
Those who have worked with Burks closely think her experience in the DA’s office has primed her to be the right candidate for the job.
Michael Heiskell works as a criminal defense attorney in Fort Worth and has known Burks since she started working in the Tarrant County DA’s office. Heiskell said he was “ecstatic” when he learned Burks was making a run.
Heiskell believes Burks is the candidate for the position based on her accomplishments and leadership ability. He thinks Burks would also be a morale booster and a person who would restore confidence and respect in the office.
“She understands the nature of this office, the breadth and scope of its impact on the community, and she would be a perfect, would be the perfect person to sit in that chair to dispense justice for our county,” Heiskell said.
In his work as an attorney, Heiskell remembers a time when he was working a murder case against Burks. His client was convicted. Instead of the maximum penalty, Burks suggested a sentence the jury ended up following to a tee, Heiskell remembers.
It was a moment that, to him, illuminated Burks’ future.
“She was able to discern the situation in a manner that provided justice to both the state and the victims in that case and my client,” Heiskell said.
Benson Varghese, a criminal justice attorney who has a practice in Fort Worth, interned in Tarrant County’s Criminal District Court No. 1 while Burks was its chief prosecutor. He remembers the high expectations, and how he never saw Burks with ruffled feathers.
“I looked up to her as one of the best trial attorneys in, well, that I knew, that I’ve ever seen, and I still hold her in that regard,” Varghese said.
Varghese also cited Burks’ trial experience — she’s is the only candidate in the race who has tried capital murder cases. Varghese said Burks is someone who is true to herself and cares about doing the right thing, he said. They’re all qualities he thinks a DA should have.
“Prosecutors take that second oath to seek justice,” Varghese said. “You know, our job as prosecutors was not to seek convictions but to do the right thing and that’s, everything came back to that. Are we doing the right thing? Are we being transparent about what we’re doing?”
Those who know Sorrells applaud him for his wit and quiet leadership.
Mark Daniel, a Fort Worth defense attorney, has known Sorrells for more than 30 years. He thinks Sorrells is “no nonsense,” and that as a judge he was an efficient docket manager.
Daniel compared Sorrells to former Tarrant County DA Tim Curry, a man Daniel said went about his job quietly and was supported his employees. To Daniel, Curry was a man who knew people weren’t perfect and could make mistakes
“Phil has some of those same attributes,” Daniel said.
Daniel also said he believes Sorrells understands the notion of leading by restraint instead of flexing his muscles.
Another colleague of Sorrells’ said he always knew the former judge to be the smartest guy in the room , and referred to him as a problem solver.
Early voting begins Oct. 24. Election day is Nov. 8.
