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Deputy county attorney resigns
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By MAUNETTE LOEKS
Staff Reporter
A longtime attorney with the Scotts Bluff County Attorney’s Office resigned Thursday.
Scotts Bluff County Deputy Attorney John Childress confirmed that he had tendered his resignation, effective immediately.
Childress said in his resignation letter that he intends to spend time with his family prior to expected employment with the FBI. Childress and his wife, Jennifer, have two children, daughter Madisen, 4, and son, Dalton, 9 weeks old.
Childress had given notification in November that he had received conditional acceptance for a position with the FBI. Childress said the FBI was currently completing steps in the hiring process, and he hoped to begin training at the FBI Academy in Quantico in January or February.
The attorney hopes to turn special agent and has been involved in a rigorous process for about eight months. The process has involved physical endurance tests and other challenges, he said.
Being an FBI agent has been a lifelong dream that Childress said “manifested” within the last year after he underwent emergency brain surgery in March 2008. Childress said his eye doctor had discovered a large tumor after Childress began losing vision, but Childress said the pituitary tumor also helped explain a lot of physical problems he had been suffering also, such as severe joint pain.
“About a year later, this March, after recovering from the brain tumor, I realized I was physically capable to perform the duties of a special agent,” he said. “It is just the culmination of a lifetime dream.”
Childress said “everything a special agent does” draws him to the profession.
“I have always been a cop in attorney’s clothes,” he said. “The FBI is the elite law enforcement agency in the world. They fight crime at every level. They fight terrorism. That is what I want to do.”
Childress had served with the county attorney’s office for nearly nine years, hired under former County Attorney Ben Shaver and working under Doug Warner, who was appointed after Shaver stepped down. He served for nearly a year as Chief Deputy Attorney for the Criminal Division under Scotts Bluff County Attorney Derek Weimer. He has been serving for the past eight months under Scotts Bluff County Attorney Tiffany Wasserburger, who was appointed to the position after Weimer was named to a 12th Judicial District judgeship in March.
Most recently, Childress had been the sole prosecutor in the June murder trial against Kevin Allen, 41. Allen was acquitted in the murder of Scottsbluff businessman Steve Morse, 54. Allen had been initially charged under Weimer’s leadership of the office and prosecutors alleged Allen had murdered Morse over a business dispute. After the jury returned an innocent verdict, Childress admitted to taking the acquittal hard.
Investigators believe that ``we got the guy who did it,” he said at the conclusion of the trial. “The defense did a good job of casting doubt...but I will never back off of that.’’
He has maintained similar commitment as the prosecutor in the case against three Legacy Auto executives, charged in March after more than 80 cars came up missing from the dealership. The case against co-owner Allen Patch, 53, and comptroller Rachel Fait, 37, was recently dismissed, just days before trial. Childress said the case had been dismissed so that federal charges could be pursued. He said the case had been referred to the U.S. Attorney General’s Office for the State of Nebraska and that the county attorney’s office “did not want to expend huge resources when there is the possibility of it going to trial federally.” Deborah Gilg, U.S. Attorney General for the State of Nebraska, had confirmed that her office is looking at the case.
After taking six weeks of Family Medical Leave after his wife gave birth in September, Childress had just returned to the office in mid-November. He said he wants to spend the next couple of months “focusing on my family.”
Childress said he will be notified once the FBI has completed its hiring process when to report for training. He will spend five months in training before being stationed. His family will be making the move with him when that occurs, he said.
“I enjoyed my tenure at the Scotts Bluff County Attorney’s Office,” he said. “But the desire to get (to the Academy) and get on with the next phase of my life is overwhelming,” he said, saying he has been excited about his prospects.
Wasserburger said she would begin advertising to replace Childress immediately and hopes to fill the position as soon as possible. In addition to Wasserburger, the office is currently staffed with four deputy attorneys: Andrea Longoria, Todd Morten, Mark Berton and Scott Blaha. Blaha is the most recent addition to the county attorney staff.
“We wish John the best,” she said.
Scotts Bluff County Deputy Attorney John Childress confirmed that he had tendered his resignation, effective immediately.
Childress said in his resignation letter that he intends to spend time with his family prior to expected employment with the FBI. Childress and his wife, Jennifer, have two children, daughter Madisen, 4, and son, Dalton, 9 weeks old.
Childress had given notification in November that he had received conditional acceptance for a position with the FBI. Childress said the FBI was currently completing steps in the hiring process, and he hoped to begin training at the FBI Academy in Quantico in January or February.
The attorney hopes to turn special agent and has been involved in a rigorous process for about eight months. The process has involved physical endurance tests and other challenges, he said.
Being an FBI agent has been a lifelong dream that Childress said “manifested” within the last year after he underwent emergency brain surgery in March 2008. Childress said his eye doctor had discovered a large tumor after Childress began losing vision, but Childress said the pituitary tumor also helped explain a lot of physical problems he had been suffering also, such as severe joint pain.
“About a year later, this March, after recovering from the brain tumor, I realized I was physically capable to perform the duties of a special agent,” he said. “It is just the culmination of a lifetime dream.”
Childress said “everything a special agent does” draws him to the profession.
“I have always been a cop in attorney’s clothes,” he said. “The FBI is the elite law enforcement agency in the world. They fight crime at every level. They fight terrorism. That is what I want to do.”
Childress had served with the county attorney’s office for nearly nine years, hired under former County Attorney Ben Shaver and working under Doug Warner, who was appointed after Shaver stepped down. He served for nearly a year as Chief Deputy Attorney for the Criminal Division under Scotts Bluff County Attorney Derek Weimer. He has been serving for the past eight months under Scotts Bluff County Attorney Tiffany Wasserburger, who was appointed to the position after Weimer was named to a 12th Judicial District judgeship in March.
Most recently, Childress had been the sole prosecutor in the June murder trial against Kevin Allen, 41. Allen was acquitted in the murder of Scottsbluff businessman Steve Morse, 54. Allen had been initially charged under Weimer’s leadership of the office and prosecutors alleged Allen had murdered Morse over a business dispute. After the jury returned an innocent verdict, Childress admitted to taking the acquittal hard.
Investigators believe that ``we got the guy who did it,” he said at the conclusion of the trial. “The defense did a good job of casting doubt...but I will never back off of that.’’
He has maintained similar commitment as the prosecutor in the case against three Legacy Auto executives, charged in March after more than 80 cars came up missing from the dealership. The case against co-owner Allen Patch, 53, and comptroller Rachel Fait, 37, was recently dismissed, just days before trial. Childress said the case had been dismissed so that federal charges could be pursued. He said the case had been referred to the U.S. Attorney General’s Office for the State of Nebraska and that the county attorney’s office “did not want to expend huge resources when there is the possibility of it going to trial federally.” Deborah Gilg, U.S. Attorney General for the State of Nebraska, had confirmed that her office is looking at the case.
After taking six weeks of Family Medical Leave after his wife gave birth in September, Childress had just returned to the office in mid-November. He said he wants to spend the next couple of months “focusing on my family.”
Childress said he will be notified once the FBI has completed its hiring process when to report for training. He will spend five months in training before being stationed. His family will be making the move with him when that occurs, he said.
“I enjoyed my tenure at the Scotts Bluff County Attorney’s Office,” he said. “But the desire to get (to the Academy) and get on with the next phase of my life is overwhelming,” he said, saying he has been excited about his prospects.
Wasserburger said she would begin advertising to replace Childress immediately and hopes to fill the position as soon as possible. In addition to Wasserburger, the office is currently staffed with four deputy attorneys: Andrea Longoria, Todd Morten, Mark Berton and Scott Blaha. Blaha is the most recent addition to the county attorney staff.
“We wish John the best,” she said.
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