PERRY, Ga. — This month, William Kendall became Houston County's acting district attorney. Now that he's in office, he's laying out his plans.
"It's a big responsibility and there's a lot of work to do," Kendall said.
It's only been a little over a week since William Kendall took over, and he says he's already gotten to work, addressing the office's case backlog.
"'Backlog' isn't what people think backlog is. The DA's office is responsible for the backlog to a certain degree -- if you think of backlog in the sense of only pending cases, like we just got a report, we just got warrants, it needs to be reviewed for charging, but after it's charged, we have no control over that," he said.
Kendall says he understands there's a problem with juvenile crime.
"It is 100% true that there is a problem in Houston County right now when it comes to young juveniles. We're talking 13-,14-,15-year-old kids who have guns in their hands and they're committing serious violent felonies -- that's a problem," he said.
Another problem is staffing in Kendall's office. At least 13 members of former District Attorney Georgia Hartwig's staff resigned. Kendall rehired 6 of those.
"Before I even had the authority to even hire anybody, I called these people up, and I said, 'Look, I may be in a position to hire you,'" he said.
He says every one of them was happy to return and calls their return "a blessing."
"I can tell you, even for myself, having more attorneys here Is a blessing. Having a support staff is a blessing. They're going to help us not only do our job and do it better, but it also gives other people a break," he explained.
He's the acting DA right now, but his career plans are uncertain.
"There's going to be a day when I run for district attorney in Houston County. When that comes, I don't know. When the timing's right, I don't know," he said.
For now, he says he's keeping his eyes on the caseload in front of him.
Governor Brian Kemp has not set a date for the appointment of a new DA.