MIDLAND, Texas — The Midland County District Attorney's Office has hired a familiar face as the newest assistant district attorney.
Starting Monday, Midland City Councilman Dan Corrales will be handling misdemeanor cases for the county.
While the position is only entry-level, District Attorney Laura Nodolf points to his resume of work and past experiences as to why he was hired for the job.
“We’re lucky to have someone who has applied to the office with previous experience that they’re able to bring to the table," Nodolf said. "While that experience doesn’t include a lot of trial experience… that’s ok."
The conversation to bring him into the fold began in late July. The DA has had a lack of attorneys for quite some time now, and they've been struggling to fill positions.
“It came about during a very random conversation that Dan and I were having," Nodolf said. "It’s been very difficult for me to fill openings. We’ve been five attorney’s short.”
For now, there is no conflict of interest with the City of Midland or his position as city councilman.
That's because the City of Midland and Midland County are two different entities, separate from each other.
“His position with the city council that he is part of, it is the executive branch and it’s a completely different entity, it’s the city," Nodolf said. "Assistant district attorney isn’t even considered a public official by definition.”
However, Nodolf and Corrales made sure to avoid any conflicts of interest with any entity.
“Dan checked and I double checked," Nodolf said. "Because we didn’t want there to even be potentially any kind of conflicts, we didn’t feel that there was."
Corrales said if any case arises that may result in a conflict of interest, he would excuse himself from the case. Meanwhile, he said he looks forward to serving the people of Midland County in his new role.