(Stillwater, Okla.) — District Attorney Rob Hudson expects to resign from office in mid-January to become state Attorney General-elect Scott Pruitt’s first assistant, a post he readily admits “wasn’t on my radar screen two weeks ago.”
“I certainly wasn’t looking to make a change. When he called two weeks ago tomorrow, he caught me off guard,” Hudson told KUSH Monday.
“I told him, ‘Scott, I need to pray about this.’ I met him a week ago Saturday in his office. We really had heart-to-heart talks about philosophies,” Hudson said.
Hudson, 53, who has been district attorney for Payne and Logan counties since 1996, was re-elected without opposition for a new four-year term, which begins Jan. 3.
To consider leaving his post as D.A. was “a hard decision for me — I love what I do. This has been my life for a long time,” Hudson said.
“I anticipate submitting my resignation to the governor’s office in mid-January. The governor fills the vacancy by state law.
“I want to make sure I’m at peace with who succeeds me. I don’t anticipate any problem with that. I think it will go smoothly,” Hudson said.
Hudson said Monday that he will ask Governor-elect Mary Fallin to consider appointing his first assistant, Tom Lee, to replace him as district attorney.
“This will be something she can do fairly quickly,” after she is sworn into office on Jan. 10, Hudson said.
“Tom has been my first assistant for a long time. We’ve shouldered a lot of policy and responsibility together.
“I’d like to think we’ve represented law enforcement well. We’ve always tried to do what was right, regardless of politics.
“I think Tom would carry that philosophy forward,” said Hudson, who hired Lee as a prosecutor in 1997, the year after Hudson took office as D.A.
“I haven’t resigned yet officially. Scott Pruitt made it public Friday that I’ll be his first assistant attorney general,” after he is sworn in as attorney general on Jan. 10.
“They have 80 some lawyers,” said Hudson, adding that his duties will be primarily managing the AG’s office, supervising the various divisions, assisting the attorney general in carrying out policy, and dealing with the public.
“It has been a real privilege for me to represent the people of Payne and Logan counties,” as district attorney for nearly 15 years, Hudson said.
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