After serving almost three years as Santa Barbara County’s District Attorney, Christie Stanley has announced she won’t be running for a second term. Instead, the county’s top attorney has endorsed Chief Trial Deputy Josh Lynn for the job.
Lynn confirmed the endorsement in a recent interview with the Sun, explaining that Stanley, who is recovering from lung cancer, has decided not to run due to personal reasons.
Stanley could not be reached for comment as of press time.
Lynn has been with the District Attorney’s office for 14 years. In his current position, he oversees all the prosecuting attorneys in the South County, makes the court jury trial schedule, and assigns cases. He also manages the office budget and funding.
“And because of Christie’s [health] circumstances, I’d sometimes fill in for her or go to meetings for her,” Lynn said.
If elected, Lynn said his biggest priority would be ensuring public safety and acting as an ethical role model for his employees.
“Ethics in an office start from the top down,” he explained.
A Santa Barbara native, Lynn said he has a strong understanding of the region’s needs, and the broad range of legal experience needed to meet them.
Lynn has served as head of the domestic violence office, focusing mainly on gang-related and other violent crimes cases.
“The thing closest to my heart is working with the victims and their families and easing them through the court process,” he said.
One of the ways Lynn hopes to do that, if elected, is by making the office more efficient.
“I want things to be less procedural and more prosecution—less paperwork and more going to court,” he said.
So far, Lynn and Senior Deputy District Attorney Joyce Dudley are the only two people to announce their intentions to run for the position.
This article appears in Sep 17-24, 2009.