The Havre Herald reports that Hill County Attorney Jessica Cole-Hodgkinson, who has been ordered to appear in court for not showing up to hearings, has submitted her letter of resignation, citing an illness in the family as the reason.
The soon-to-be former County Attorney was ordered to appear in District and Justice courts to answer for a combined 10 hearings for which she did not appear.
Cole-Hodgkinson, who did not run for re-election this year, was appointed November 2016 by the county commissioners after former county attorney, Gina Dahl, left in the middle of her second term to take a job in Yellowstone County.
Cole-Hodgkinson was embroiled in controversy within months after taking over.
In March 2017, an assault victim sued the county for $1 million on the grounds of gross incompetence on the part of Cole-Hodgkinson after charges against a felony offender were dismissed. District Judge Daniel Boucher later dismissed the complaint and the charges were refiled and taken over by the Montana Attorney General’s office, and the offender was sentenced for seven years with the Montana State Prison.
In September 2017, Boucher dismissed multiple felony cases because of various reasons relating to Cole-Hodgkinson’s unpreparedness.
Cole-Hodgkinson said on Thursday that she wasn’t planning to leave until after the November election, but in April she found out her mother had a deteriorating medical condition. “My mom rearranged her life to care for me when I went through cancer treatment, and now I get to repay her,” she said.
Click here to read more at the Havre Herald.
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