Prosecutor wins judgeship in Montgomery

Longtime prosecutor Phil Grant will be the next judge in Montgomery County’s 9th District Court.

The only question is when.

Grant could take the gavel as early as mid-June after Judge Kelly Case on Wednesday announced his resignation in writing to Gov. Greg Abbott. Case, who wasn’t seeking a second term, submitted the letter the day after Grant effectively won the seat by capturing the Republican nomination in a runoff.

The Democratic Party is not fielding a candidate in November’s general election.

Grant, 45, who is Montgomery County’s first assistant district attorney, said he would ask Abbott to appoint him to the post once Case leaves on June 16 rather than wait until after the election.

“Montgomery County can’t afford to see that court sit idle,” Grant said.

The court specializes in criminal cases. Case, a criminal defense attorney before becoming judge, presided over several highprofile ones, such as the death penalty case of Larry Swearingen, who has had five execution dates halted since his 1998 conviction in the murder of a college student.

Case also reduced the probation given to NFL star Adrian Peterson for a child abuse charge related to his disciplining his young son. And the judge ruled that the state’s law against online solicitation of a minor for sex was unconstitutional.

Higher courts, however, have overturned at least five of his rulings.

Case’s staff said he would not comment on his resignation. But he has said that he is leaving the bench “to make more money” to pay for the college educations of his four children. If he had wanted another term, though, he would have been challenged by fellow Republicans.

As frustration mounted among prosecutors, Grant decided to run for the seat. He launched his campaign last May, 10 months before the primary and before Case had announced whether he would seek another term.

On Tuesday, Grant defeated Conroe attorney Kate Shipman Bihm in the runoff by a 4-point margin, according to unofficial results. In another race, Associate Judge Jennifer Robin defeated Conroe attorney Kristin Bays for the 410th District Court.

Grant had received endorsements from the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Association, Sheriff Tommy Gage and District Attorney Brett Ligon, who hired him in 2009 as his top assistant, responsible for the office’s day-to-day management, public integrity division and major crimes unit.

In an interview, Grant said he was confident that he could make the transition from prosecutor to judge.

“When you have been doing this job for as long as I have,” he said, “you know how important it is for a judge to be a judge.”