Longtime Travis Co. Attorney Ken Oden unexpectedly announced Feb. 13 that he will leave the elected post Feb. 28 to join the law firm of Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, where he will take on the role of “ethics manager.” “They were looking around for someone to play that role, and they made me an offer,” he said. Linebarger took a public relations hit last fall when former partner Juan Peña was indicted, along with two San Antonio City Council members, on federal bribery charges.
Oden, 52, has been with the county attorney’s office for 23 years and has held the elected post for 17; he says he had been thinking about leaving since last year and began talking with Linebarger in mid-December, trying to help the firm find good candidates for the ethics job. On Dec. 31, Oden became eligible for retirement from the county, and in mid-January Linebarger offered him the job. “It’s totally disorienting,” he said. “I’ve had this job here since I was 29 and fresh out of law school. I’ve been there most of my adult life — I don’t know that I’ve matured, but I’ve gotten old.” Oden said the details of his new job are still being worked out, but he said he eventually plans to open a private practice in Austin while continuing to work with Linebarger.
The County Attorney’s Office has jurisdiction over misdemeanor criminal charges and serves as the county’s top legal adviser. Among Oden’s more notable cases: In 1985 he became the first Texas prosecutor to file criminal charges against a private corporation after workers were killed in a trench cave-in. In 1992 he successfully negotiated the removal of leaking gas tanks from East Austin; in 1999 he filed charges against the Austin school district over AISD tampering with the TAAS test. In 1993 Oden was tapped by President Bill Clinton to become U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas, but the nomination was blocked by Republicans in Congress.
Last year Oden launched an investigation into allegations that state Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, and former Rep. Rick Green, R-Dripping Springs, illegally lobbied the Texas Dept. of Health on behalf of “supplement” company Metabolife Inc. A proposed settlement in that case has been put on hold, after Oden learned — at the last minute — that Wentworth has a contractual relationship with Linebarger. Oden told Naked City that rather than leave the pending settlement to his yet-unnamed successor, his office has referred the matter to the office of District Attorney Ronnie Earle. “That moves the matter entirely out of the county attorney’s office,” said Oden. The county attorney has also been engaged in ongoing investigations of a dozen or more legislators who may have engaged in conduct similar to that of Wentworth and Green. “Those are all pending investigations,” Oden said, “which should proceed on their own merits. I have no reason to believe that they wouldn’t continue under my successor, but those decisions will be made by someone else.”
Travis Co. commissioners now must appoint a replacement to fill out Oden’s term; sources speculate that Oden’s deputy David Escamilla will be tapped for the job. Oden said he’ll miss public life, but is preparing to move on. “I love to participate [in public life], and I love the people who love to participate — even the people I don’t agree with,” he said. “I do think the addiction of ego to any status position is going to take a little weaning. But, as far as I can tell, the public is always ready to wean you — you find out you weren’t any big shit to begin with. I’m sure there will be help there.”
This article appears in February 21 • 2003.
