Dallas County 282nd District Court Judge Amber Givens filed Thursday to run against current District Attorney John Creuzot for his job, according to the county Democratic Party.
Creuzot, who's held the position since he was elected in 2018, filed for reelection, according to the Dallas County Democratic Party's list of received candidate applications.
“This is the United States of America," Creuzot said in a statement. "Anyone is free to run for office, the issues will be debated, and ultimately the voters will decide the outcome.”
KERA News reached out to Givens for comment and will update this story with any response.
Givens, elected to the bench in 2014, will give up her position to run for DA. She first faced controversy this year when the State Commission on Judicial Conduct sanctioned her twice in June.
The commission reprimanded her for allegedly allowing her coordinator to impersonate her online four years ago. The Kaufman County District Attorney's Office declined to criminally charge Givens and her court coordinator in 2023 for the alleged impersonation after a more than two-year investigation involving the Texas Rangers.
Givens also received an admonition for allegedly putting a man in jail and revoking another man's bond after she recused herself from those cases. The man who went to jail filed an ongoing lawsuit against Givens for wrongful imprisonment.
Dallas County commissioners voted in September to give all other district judges in the county $25,000 in supplemental pay except Givens. Commissioners alluded to state sanctions against Givens but did not explicitly cite it as a reason for the withheld pay.
Givens was eventually designated that pay in October after suing the county, alleging she was wrongfully excluded from the supplement.
Additional reporting by KERA's Marina Trahan Martinez. This story has been updated with a statement from Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot.
Toluwani Osibamowo is KERA’s law and justice reporter. Got a tip? Email Toluwani at tosibamowo@kera.org.
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