Krieg resigns as DA; will be sworn in as judge on Jan. 4
Tuolumne County District Attorney Laura Krieg will be sworn in to the bench as Tuolumne County Superior Court Judge Laura Krieg just after the start of the new year, and the county Board of Supervisors will be tasked with selecting her successor for the last two years of her term.
Krieg said in an email to The Union Democrat that she felt “mixed emotions” when she tendered her resignation, which will be effective on Jan. 3, 2021.
“It has been my privilege to be surrounded by such dedicated and well principled prosecutors, investigators, victim witness staff, support staff, law enforcement, and local legal community,” she wrote. “Words cannot express enough how grateful I am to the citizens of Tuolumne County. Thank you for trusting me with the profound responsibility of serving both as your District Attorney and now your Superior Court Judge.”
Krieg will be sworn in at 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 4 in Department 1, the top floor of the historic Tuolumne County Superior Courthouse on Yaney
Avenue, by Tuolumne County Superior Court Presiding Judge Donald Segerstrom. She said there will be limited attendance due to COVID-19 restrictions, but the swearing-in will be streamed live to other courtrooms.
Her election and appointment as a judge follows approximately 16 years as a prosecutor in the county.
Krieg said she began at the Tuolumne County District Attorney’s Office on March 21, 2005, then headed by District Attorney Donald Segerstrom, after serving two years at a civil law firm in San Francisco.
Segerstrom was appointed to the Superior Court in 2012 and then Assistant District At
torney Michael Knowles was selected to serve out through the end of his term. Krieg was then promoted to Knowles’ former position. At the end of that term, Knowles decided to retire and Krieg ran for District Attorney in 2014.
She was elected in 2014 and 2018.
Krieg won the race for judge over Sonora attorney David Beyersdorf during the March primary by more than 6,000 votes. She will serve a six-year term.
Krieg said it was difficult for her to choose one notable moment from her career thus far, but said she was proud of “many accomplishments” over the course of her tenure.
“From starting a court support dog program, opening our county’s first-ever child advocacy center, appearing in person with victims’ families at lifer hearings, to successfully prosecuting thousands of cases — it has been an honor and privilege to serve this community that I love so much,” she said.
Krieg highlighted victim advocacy when she noted that many of the victims who she worked with over the years offered their congratulations to her.
The process has already begun to select Krieg’s successor, who will serve as district attorney for the remainder of her term through 2022.
County Administrator Tracie Riggs said the board can only appoint a replacement to an elected position after the position has been vacated, so the appointment would not happen until after the new year. The appointment must be made in a “reasonable amount of time,” she said, and the appointment is expected to be made within a few months of the vacancy.
“We need to get our new board members sworn in, conduct orientations with each department, provide some additional information and education before we jump into something as complex and visible as interviewing and appointing an interim District Attorney,” Riggs said in an email.
The three newly elected county supervisors will also be sworn in on Jan. 4.
“We will need time for them to get acclimated to their new positions, responsibilities and authorities,” Riggs said.
Riggs has acknowledged at least seven people have applied for the position, though she said she could not share any personal information about the candidates. The seven applicants submitted during a preliminary phase earlier this year in anticipation of the possibility Krieg could be appointed before the end of the year.
When that did occur, a second recruitment was commenced and does not close until Jan. 29, 2021.
Riggs said applicants for the first round do not need to re-apply.
The board will hold public interviews with candidates in March. The public interviews will follow the selection of an interview panel who will narrow the applicant pool for who appears for an interview before the board. As of November, Riggs said the panel members were not yet selected.
“Once the applicants move on to the board interview, they will become known,” she said.
Krieg does not have a role in the selection process, Riggs said.
During the interim period before the selection of Krieg’s replacement, Assistant District Attorney Eric Hovatter will take over the duties of the position and the authorities involved therein. All classifications of assistant department heads act in the place of the department heads when they are unable to do so themselves, Riggs said.
Hovatter could not immediately be reached for comment.