Eric Edwards shares his thoughts on his first 100 days as Houston County District Attorney

HOUSTON COUNTY — Eric Edwards is settling in nicely as the new Houston County District Attorney. He claims to be very lucky, as he has worked in the DA’s office in some capacity for 12 years. 

“Everyone here is someone I know or have worked with for a long period of time,” he said. “We’ve had a few new hires I’ve brought in that I had known previously before bringing them on, so we’re glad to add them to the team.” 

Edwards said he is grateful to be familiar with the DA’s Office.

“I sort of hit the ground running and kept on going with our courtroom work without any interruptions,” he said. 

Edwards was a prosecutor beforehand and knew what was happening inside the courtroom. However, things outside the courtroom are new to him. He said it is surprising how heavy the administrative workload is. 

“There is always something to do, even if you’re not in the courtroom and there’s always something to be working on, which is great,” he said. “There have been good surprises, but so far that has been new to me.” 

Edwards hasn’t faced any internal changes in the DA’s Office, but has faced changes in the Houston County court system. 

“We’ve got a fantastic new Sheriff, a fantastic new Clerk of Court and we also got a fourth Superior Court Judge for the first time ever in the Houston County Judicial Circuit,” he said. “The fourth judge has been our biggest challenge and change only because we get more court time, and that’s a fantastic thing as we’ve added eight additional weeks of trial time which is going to allow us to get more cases closed.” 

According to Edwards, the Houston County DA’s Office is currently on pace to close 4,800 cases in 2025. He said if they were to achieve this number, it would be a 900 closed case increase from 2024. 

Edwards described the feedback he and his staff have received as very encouraging. 

“The feedback so far on the number of cases we’ve gotten closed with these additional trial weeks has been great as [the judges] seem to be happy,” he said. “We’ve got a fantastic working relationship with all of our local law enforcement agencies–Sheriff’s Office and the three municipal departments—and all of their chiefs have been extremely supportive. The feedback has been fantastic so far and we’re just gonna try and keep that train rolling.” 

Edward’s interpretation of his first 100 days as Houston County District Attorney has flown by. 

“There were things that I thought I would get done within my first week on the job that had to take a backseat, and I’m just getting around to them now because other things took precedence,” he said. “It’s been amazing and I am shocked how quickly it has flown by.” 

Looking ahead to the next 100 days, Edwards said they will just keep doing what they’re doing at the Houston County District Attorney’s Office by getting into court and closing cases with a focus first on the violent felonies. 

“In the last two months we’ve been able to get four life sentences—three on murder convictions and one rape cold case,” he said. “We will continue to seek justice for the folks in Houston County the same way we have been the last 100 days.”