Dallas County District Attorney-elect Amber Givens says transition lacks cooperation from current administration

The incoming Dallas County district attorney says she's not getting the cooperation she needs to assume the office from the current administration. 

It's a complaint by Amber Givens that outgoing District Attorney John Creuzot vehemently denies. 

Heath Harris was first assistant district attorney when his boss, Craig Watkins, lost a reelection bid to Susan Hawk in 2014. Heath says, despite the transition from a Democrat to a Republican, he made every effort to make the transition as smooth and as transparent as possible. 

"When I was in Craig's administration again, we were in a hostile election with Judge Hawk, but, yet, we still made sure that she had all the information that she needed to start her administration," Harris said.

Harris is a criminal defense attorney who now works on the transition team for incoming Dallas County District Attorney Amber Givens, who defeated Creuzot in the March primary. 

Because there's no Republican on the November ballot, Givens will be sworn in come January. 

Heath says the cooperation from the outgoing administration is unlike anything he's experienced. 

"You want to make sure that this office continues to run functions in a proper manner," he said. "And right now, I don't feel like they're giving her the tools she needs to do that."

In a statement to CBS News Texas, Givens said, "I have not spoken with District Attorney Creuzot since our final debate in February 2026, nor have I received any communication from him.
I have consistently attempted to approach this transition in a spirit of professionalism, collaboration, and respect for the employees of the District Attorney's Office [DA's Office]. I have repeatedly offered to participate in and support transition-related discussions and meetings with the employees of the DA's Office. To date, those offers have gone unanswered."

Givens says emails between her and Creuzot's office starting in April through last month reveal her requests for organizational charts, budgets and grant information, as well as special programs. 

She says the responses have been slow, often including explanations that the office is "quite busy" and that some of the requests have been "quite extensive in scope." 

Creuzot insists his office has worked hard to be helpful to Givens and said, "We respectfully disagree with the characterization that the office has not been cooperative."

In fact, the DA's office says its leaders met with Givens as recently as Friday. 

"During that meeting, we outlined additional materials that will be provided and proposed a regular monthly meeting schedule through the remainder of the transition period to ensure a consistent and efficient flow of information."

In her most recent email, Givens said she is "particularly concerned about ensuring the key personnel are able to begin work on January 1, 2027."

Harris said Givens has had to resort to filing massive open records requests to get information. 

"If the newly elected DA is having to do PIAs, you know, to get information, or having to constantly, you know, contact the DA DAS office to get the information that she needs to, you know, again make the transition to be ready day one to continue protecting the citizens of Dallas County," Harrisa said. "Then there is no transition. That's not good."