THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 1, 1994 TAG: 9409010570
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
H.P. Williams Jr., district attorney for the seven-county 1st Judicial District, said Wednesday he will resign Oct. 2 to enter private practice.
The resignation means Williams, who lost a re-election bid to former Assistant District Attorney Frank Parrish in May, will step down three months before his term officially ends Dec. 31.
``I chose to leave at this time because I have been offered a tremendous opportunity to change the focus of my law practice,'' Williams said by phone from a North Carolina Bar Association seminar in Raleigh. ``To leave now gives me an opportunity to go ahead and get started on a new career.''
Williams, a teacher and National Park Service ranger before he joined the district attorney's office, has never worked in private practice.
Williams will begin working as an associate with the Elizabeth City law firm of Twiford, Morrison, O'Neal and Vincent at the beginning of October, partners in the firm said.
``He's a fine person,'' said firm partner Eddie O'Neal, a major supporter in Williams' re-election campaign. ``I think he's done a good job, and we're very proud to have him on board.''
Gov. James B. Hunt Jr.'s office is responsible for appointing a district attorney to fill the three-month gap before Parrish's four-year term begins Jan. 1, state officials said. A spokeswoman for the governor's office said the resignation letter had not yet been received.
Parrish on Wednesday said he was ready to take over the job and would seek the governor's nod.
``I would hope I'd be the logical person to complete this unexpired term,'' he said. ``I welcome the challenge. . . . I look forward to being part of the team again.''
Parrish, who has spent the plast several months traveling and doing contract work for law firms, said he would also welcome receiving a regular salary.
Williams has served just short of 12 years as the lead prosecutor for the district comprising Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Pasquotank and Perquimans counties.
Uncontested in his first three tries for the position, Williams was soundly defeated by Parrish in the May 3 Democratic primary. Parrish faces no opposition in the general election this fall.
Williams led the successful prosecution of day-care owner Bob Kelly in the Edenton Little Rascals child sex-abuse case, which attracted national attention.
He also had been criticized in recent years and during the election for relying too heavily on plea bargains rather than taking cases to trial.
Nearly a dozen complaints were filed in 1992 and 1993 by residents upset with the way he had handled court cases involving them. At one point, Williams had to hire a lawyer to defend himself against a petition to remove him from office. All complaints against him were dismissed. by CNB