Hearing on former county attorney vacated

Hearings scheduled for this morning in which the former Hill County attorney was to show cause as to why she did not file judgments as required, after sentences were imposed in seven cases, were vacated Wednesday afternoon.

District Judge Dan Boucher vacated the hearings requiring Jessica Cole-Hodgkinson to appear.

After a highly criticized year-and-a-half in office, Cole-Hodgkinson resigned effective 8 a.m. Monday.

The Hill County Commission appointed Karen Alley, the sole deputy county attorney, to replace Cole-Hodgkinson.

Alley won the primary election in June for the seat and is unopposed in the general election.

Hearings, in which Cole-Hodgkinson is required to show why she did not find an attorney without conflicts of interest in three Hill County Justice Court cases, are still pending Aug. 7.

According to the orders setting the hearings, Alley, who formerly did work for the public defender's office and in private practice, appeared in hearings and said she could not prosecute the three cases due to conflicts.

"County Attorney Jessica Cole-Hodgkinson failed to appear at the hearing, failed to move the court for a continuance and failed to have a staff attorney present on behalf of the state who had the ability to proceed at the hearing," the orders say.

Cole-Hodgkinson, saying she had submitted her resignation and would be out of state Aug. 7, requested the court to vacate the hearings or allow her to appear by telephone.

Judge Audrey Barger denied that motion, saying the request contained "no good cause which would allow the court to grant a continuance."