E-mail interview conducted with District Attorney candidates Buzz Franklin and Doug Woodruff. Franklin is the incumbent DA, or prosecutor. The DA’s office they seek is within the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit, covering Dade, Walker, Catoosa, and Chattooga. Sixth of twelve Q&A’s scheduled before the July 31st vote.

LU: What is your full name, and what name do you generally go by?

FRANKLIN: My full name is Herbert E. Franklin, Jr. Most people know me as Buzz.

WOODRUFF: Douglas Ray Woodruff, Doug

LU: What is your age?

FRANKLIN: I am 56 years of age.

WOODRUFF: 49

LU: What is your home address? (We will only publish the street/town, not your house number.)

FRANKLIN: I live at [redacted], Wildwood, Georgia 30757.

WOODRUFF: Ringgold, GA

LU: How can voters contact you or stay in touch with your campaign? (Please include info like e-mail, phone, Facebook, Twitter, etc. if applicable.)

FRANKLIN: My campaign website is www.reelectbuzz.com . My campaign email address is electbuzz@gmail.com.

WOODRUFF: www.dougwoodruff.com www.facebook.com/doug4da campaign@dougwoodruff.com 706-375-1966 855-Doug-4-DA

LU: How long have you lived in the county, and (if applicable) where else have you lived?

FRANKLIN: I have lived in Dade County in the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit since age 4 except while attending college and law school.

WOODRUFF: My family moved to Center Grove in Walker County in 1966 when I was three years old. Aside from years spent in school (and one year in TN when I was a teacher) I have always lived in Walker County until 11 years ago when my wife and I moved to Catoosa County where we now live.

LU: What’s the best thing about living in this community?

FRANKLIN: It’s hard to say there is just one thing. It’s just a great place to live in so many ways. I would not live anywhere else.

WOODRUFF: It’s “God’s Country” and simply the best place in the world! During the years that I spent in school I’ve always looked forward to coming home to NW Georgia. The people are warm and caring. We have beautiful scenery, unique history and delicious food.

LU: Starting as early as you want, what kind of education do you have?

FRANKLIN: I went through the public schools in Dade County. I graduated summa cum laude (with highest honors) from the University of West Georgia. I graduated from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1981. I also think it is important to add that I began working and saving money in my early teens to pay for my education and that I came out of college and law school without any debt. Since becoming a prosecutor, I have attended many specialized trainings for prosecutors including seminars on death penalty cases, child abuse cases, domestic violence cases, drug cases and many others. I have also co-hosted a child abuse seminar for the last few years and annually teach new prosecutors at Basic Litigation in Forsythe, Georgia.

WOODRUFF: B.A., from Southern Adventist University, Collegedale, TN Juris Doctor, UGA School of Law, Athens, GA

LU: What is your current occupation? (Woodruff Only)

WOODRUFF: Chief Asst. Public Defender, Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit Public Defender’s Office (serving Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade and Walker Counties).

Franklin is full-time DA.

LU: What previous jobs or elected positions have you held?

FRANKLIN: When I graduated from law school, my first job was as an Assistant District Attorney in the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit from 1981 to 1984. I was in private practice from 1984 to 1996. In 1985, I was appointed by the Superior Court judges of the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit to serve as the Juvenile Court Judge for Dade County, Georgia and served until 1996. I was the youngest appointee in the state at the time. In the early 1990s, I was appointed by the Supreme Court of Georgia to be a Special Master for Lawyer Disciplinary Hearings. The attorneys selected for these positions are ones who demonstrate the highest integrity and ethical standards. I have been elected to serve as the Secretary, Treasurer, Vice-President and President of the Lookout Mountain Bar Association. I have also been elected as a charter board member for the Dade County Chamber of Commerce. I was elected to serve as president of the Optimist Club of Trenton/Dade County and was elected as Lt. Governor on the Georgia District level.

WOODRUFF: Currently serving as a board member of the Georgia Bar Board of Governors. My legal experience includes my current 7 1/2 years in the Public Defender’s Office and 4 years as an Assistant District Attorney with the balance of my 16 years as an attorney spent in private practice. Prior to attending law school I served 3 1/2 years with the Walker County Sheriff’s Dept. under the late Sheriff Al Millard.

LU: Will/do aspects of your education or job experiences make you a better District Attorney? If so please explain.

FRANKLIN: My experience vastly exceeds that of my opponent. I have been a practicing attorney for more than 31 years. I have been a prosecutor for more than 18 years. I have handled dozens of murder cases as lead counsel, including numerous death penalty cases. My opponent has handled one murder case as lead counsel. I have prepared and dealt with budgets for 16 years as District Attorney as well as in private practice. I have always been a fiscal conservative. The best example is when I took office, I inherited an office vehicle with 62,000 miles on it. I retired when it had over 300,000 miles on it and I am currently driving my second office car in 16 years and it has over 162,000 miles on it – a long way from retirement. Perhaps the most important factor is that I have always been tough but fair. The only promise I made when I was first elected as District Attorney was to be tough but fair and I have kept that promise. The sentences in the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit are among the toughest in the state. Also, see the answer to the next question.

WOODRUFF: I am the only candidate with actual law enforcement experience and those years in law enforcement give me a unique perspective on the criminal justice system. Spending time as a prosecutor made me a better defense attorney and in the same way, the years I’ve spent as Chief Asst. in the Public Defender’s Office will make me a that much better as a prosecutor.

LU: During your time as DA, what would you consider to be your greatest accomplishment? (Franklin Only)

FRANKLIN: I have fundamentally changed and improved how the office works on many levels.
Funding for the District Attorneys in Georgia is a hodge-podge. The State provides funds for some basic personnel positions and the balance of funding is then up to the local counties and the District Attorney to secure. When I first took office, there was no budget process in place with the four county governing authorities. I established one with each county and made sure that employees who were in the same positions (whether funded by the state or the counties) were paid equally. I made sure that all employees had the same retirement opportunities. This has provided a better working atmosphere and helps to retain good, experienced employees. I secured grant funding for the victim-witness program to ensure that victims were properly served. To date, we have received over $1.1 million dollars in grant funding for that program.
Similarly, I also improved the work flow situation by working with other agencies in the criminal justice system. One unique innovation was the creation of the Child Fatality Investigation Team, a specially trained team which investigates all child deaths in the four county circuit. The multi-county team concept was been used as a model in other multi-county judicial circuits across the state. I also secured grant dollars to train prosecutors and officers to work domestic violence cases.
I have placed an emphasis on the District Attorney’s Office working with local law enforcement to use the drug forfeiture laws to seize the assets of drug dealers so that those proceeds may be used for law enforcement purposes. A recent example was a seizure in Walker County of over $1 million in assets.
An example of the changes on a more basic level: When I first got into office, the indictments and accusations were basically being handwritten by the ADAs and typed up by the administrative staff. I purchased a used book on creating word processing templates and designed a template program to automate the process. In 2008, I secured Tracker, an on-line database management system created by the Prosecuting Attorney’s Council, for the office to use in place of the template program. While this replaced the template system, it required the creation and transposition of forms for the local office to utilize in Tracker. I spent the vast majority of my evenings hours for three months creating forms so the office could better utilize Tracker. The only cost to the county for these innovations was the cost of a used book.

LU: What would you say is the greatest accomplishment of the current District Attorney’s office, and is there anything your opponent has done during his time as DA that you intend to emulate? (Woodruff Only)

WOODRUFF: I prefer to start with a fresh vision.

LU: Is there anything from your time in office that you regret or wish you could do differently? (Franklin only)

FRANKLIN: Hindsight being 20/20, there are always things in retrospect that one might wish to change but nothing substantial or fundamental.

LU: What would you say is the biggest failure of the current DA’s office, and what actions of your opponent would you have done differently? (Woodruff only)

WOODRUFF: The District Attorney’s job is to represent the people of our community even when it’s not pleasant or easy. For the last 25 years as a volunteer firefighter, law enforcement officer, prosecutor and public defender I have never hesitated to stand up, step forward and stand strong.

LU: What are your priorities for the next four years if you’re reelected/elected?

FRANKLIN: I will continue working to improve how the office operates internally and with other agencies. One fundamental goal is to electronically and digitally connect all the agencies in the criminal justice system. For example, when a local Sheriff’s office makes an arrest, that office inputs information about the crime, the victim and the defendant into their computer system. The Magistrate’s office, the Superior Court Clerk’s office and our office input the same information. It would save time, dollars and keystroke errors to eliminate this duplication. A fundamental problem with accomplishing this goal is that each office has a different vendor providing their software and each vendor zealously guards their product. Getting the vendors to provide the necessary information to create an interface to transfer the data is a difficult task. A pilot project is being tested in the Cordele Judicial Circuit where many of the same vendors are used. Of course money is also an obstacle as the vendors usually demand money to provide the necessary information to advance data sharing.
I would also like to see the circuit create an accountability court. Governor Deal has actively promoted the idea of accountability courts such as drug courts and mental health courts. The Criminal Justice Reform Act passed this last legislative session also promotes the creation of such courts but the basic question is whether the state will provide any money for this purpose. In conjunction with other agencies, I am exploring this but there are currently no hard and fast answers as to the availability of funding. Myself and others did extensive work investigating the possibility of creating a drug court in 2005 but we learned that the traditional drug court model would not work well in a four county judicial circuit such as ours. It is my understanding that the legislation encourages different models and it is my hope to adopt something appropriate to our circuit.

WOODRUFF: Be a visible and engaged leader. Do my job and represent the people of the community. Be approachable and willing to talk to members of the community. Restore dignity and courtesy to the legal process.

LU: Is there any criteria, philosophy, or overall guideline you use/will use when deciding who to prosecute and how each prosecution should be handled?

FRANKLIN: Each case is unique with different defendants, victims, facts and circumstances. There cannot be a cookie cutter approach. Basic common sense is the key element.

WOODRUFF: Our laws were crafted with the best interest of the community in mind (it’s a better community if we’re not killing each other, stealing from each other, etc.). The enforcement of those laws should take that same “best interest” of the community into account. The end result should always be a better community and decisions centered around that core set of values will be better overall. This might mean seeking the death penalty or the stiffest prison sentence possible but it might also mean rehabilitation, probation or some other disposition which seeks to preserve the family unit and prevent recidivism.

LU: What are the biggest challenges for those involved with the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit, and what (if anything) can you do as DA to make those challenges easier to overcome?

FRANKLIN: The caseload and workload continue to rise in the District Attorney’s office, in local law enforcement agencies and in the agencies associated with the court system. The budget in the District Attorney’s Office has been frozen since August of 2008. While doing more with less is an old refrain, at some point, additional staff will be needed. I will continue to improve the basic work flow in the office and work with other agencies to do as much as we can with what we have.

WOODRUFF: Funding is the single largest challenge facing government agencies. There is not much to be done at a local level except to be as fiscally responsible as possible.

LU: Do you feel that law enforcement agencies, judges, and prosecutors are held properly accountable under existing state laws, or are reforms needed in those areas? If so what reforms would you like to see put into place?

FRANKLIN: There are many avenues of accountability and the system does work. The episode with the former magistrate judge in Catoosa County does emphasize the need to streamline and speed up the process in certain situations. In that case, the associate magistrate judge was removed by the Judicial Qualifications Commission but he continued to draw his salary for almost a year before the JQC could hold a hearing and render that decision.

WOODRUFF: There are various agencies such as the Georgia Bar and the Judicial Qualification Commission which oversee the activities of attorneys and judges and those agencies are doing a good job. I am personally a member of the Georgia Bar Board of Governors and we work diligently to keep our ethics rules in line with the ever-changing legal field.

One weak link in accountability for law enforcement is the District Attorney’s office. In Georgia, the district attorneys is one of a handful of local officials allowed to request GBI involvement with cases, but the sitting DA has to our knowledge never called in the GBI to investigate a crime involving someone from law enforcement.

A specific incident that comes to mind is disgraced former Walker Co Sheriff’s Deputy Gaylon Redwine. Redwine was accused of statutory rape, but when Walker Sheriff Steve Wilson declared it an “office policy violation,” Franklin’s office concurred with Wilson and decided not to prosecute. In that instance the GBI should have been called in by Franklin or Wilson to avoid the appearance of favoritism, and to make sure justice was done.

That’s at least one time where the system did not work, and some responsibility falls on Franklin. The DA’s office should have a policy of involving the GBI in any criminal incident involving officers, other employees of law enforcement agencies, relatives of law enforcement leadership, or elected leaders. Period.

LU: Please summarize in a single paragraph why residents of Northwest Georgia should vote for you in the upcoming election:

FRANKLIN: It has been an honor and privilege to have served the citizens of the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit for the last sixteen years. It has been a very successful tenure. I work extremely long hours doing the job – anywhere from 60 to 90 hours per week, but it is a job that I am passionate about. The sentences in the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit are among the toughest in the State of Georgia. The vast majority of the sentences are based upon recommendations made by the District Attorney’s Office. I will continue to be tough but fair. I also have strong support among local law enforcement and the endorsement of the Fraternal Order of Police, Lookout Mountain Lodge 86.

WOODRUFF: As a lifelong conservative Republican I will bring strong, visible engaged leadership back to the District Attorney’s Office. I’ll show up, be personally involved on the difficult cases and take responsibility as the leader of the office. I’ll aggressively prosecute those who violate our laws and protect victims — just as I did when I proudly served in law enforcement. I am approachable and will be willing to talk to folks.

LU: Is there anything else voters should know about you? Family, faith, philosophy, inspirations, etc.?

FRANKLIN: I grew up attending the Wildwood United Methodist Church. After my marriage to Donna Ross, the family attended Donna’s home church, New Salem United Methodist Church. While at Wildwood, I served as a Youth Leader. At New Salem United Methodist, I have been a member of the Board of Trustees and was a past Chairman of that board. I currently serve on the Pastor-Parish Relations Committee and my wife Donna has been the church treasurer for many years. Our son, Wil Martin, married Erin Schilling on June 5, 2011. They have a daughter, Annalee Rose Martin, who was born on Leap Day, February 29, 2012. Wil did work in special education at Dade Middle School until May, 2012, but he now works at Burk’s United Methodist Church in Hixson, Tennessee where he assists with the music ministry and other administrative duties. He is the lead male vocalist for Crossfire, a contemporary Christian worship band. Erin is a registered nurse who is about to complete her degree to be a nurse practitioner.
For more information, the public can go to my website: reelectbuzz.com.

WOODRUFF: My wife of twenty years, Terri (Waters) Woodruff, and I are active members of the Rock Spring United Methodist Church where I’ve served as pianist for many of the last 27 years. I am currently in my second term as a member of the Board of Trustees of our church and have again been chosen by my fellow board members to chair that board. I’ve been involved in the leadership of almost every organization with which I’ve been associated over the last 25 years.

We appreciate both candidates responding to the questions so voters have more information before going to the polls. Mr. Franklin gets credit for participating even though he’s been kicked around here a few times in posts and discussion.

That said, the reasons he’s been kicked around still stand. Not prosecuting Gaylon Redwine, prosecuting the vindictive revenge-motivated Tonya Craft case, and settling various aspects of the Tri-State Crematory trial after deciding not to prosecute members of the Marsh family. All of those cases involved other elected officials in some way, and in every one Franklin’s District Attorney’s Office sided with the elected officials. Franklin has been DA for sixteen years, and during that time it seems he’s developed relationships or rapport with local law enforcement agencies or individuals that are a bit too close for comfort.

Mr. Woodruff’s background as both prosecutor and public defender may give him a better perspective and put some distance between him and law enforcement – although he was an officer more than two decades ago. Woodruff has taken some heat for being one of Sam Parker’s defense attorneys, but unlike the DA’s office, lawyers in the Public Defender’s office don’t have the flexibility of choosing what cases they get involved with.

As Doug Woodruff said, it’s time for some new vision in the district. Any professional failings or personal feelings about Franklin aside, four terms in any elected office should be sufficient. The LaFayette Underground endorses Doug Woodruff for District Attorney.

Walker County Messenger: Buzz Franklin | Doug Woodruff

Elections are next Tuesday, July 31, from 7 AM to 7 PM. LaFayette residents will vote at the Walker Co Senior Center, voting locations for other residents vary. Early voting has ended.

THE RULES:

Last week the Underground e-mailed candidates for 12 competitive local races (all except County Surveyor) a series of questions. Candidates who have no opponent on the July ballot were not included; those with opposition in November will be contacted before the November vote.

Candidates were asked to respond to the questions via e-mail by a certain deadline, and were instructed not to share their answers with each other before we made them public. Every candidate in the same race was given the same set of questions except where noted above.

Candidates who did not respond by the deadline have [no response] after their name for each question asked, and candidates who responded but chose to skip certain questions are marked [no response]. Responses received after this point will not be accepted for a full post, but candidates are welcome to add to their responses, answer questions, or respond to our opinions in the comment section below.

Answers are copied directly from e-mail without corrections or changes except for redaction of addresses. Redactions or any editorial clarifications of questions or answers are made in [brackets]. Our thoughts are in italics beneath the responses.

Additional Q&A responses will be posted up until election day.

All LaFayette Underground 2012 Election Posts