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SMITH COUNTY — The Smith County Criminal District Attorney\u2019s Office announces the retirement of Mike West after 21 years of service with Smith County. West, who has served as the Appellate Chief over the Appeals Division for much of his career, will conclude his tenure at the end of this month.<\/p>\n
Last week, Mr. West was honored with the Kepple Award by the Texas District and County Attorneys Association (TDCAA). The DA’s office says throughout his career, Mr. West has played a vital role in shaping the work of the Smith County Criminal District Attorney\u2019s Office, particularly through his leadership in appellate advocacy. He has argued and overseen numerous complex cases, including many death penalty appeals, ensuring justice was diligently pursued and upheld.<\/p>\n
\u201cMike\u2019s expertise, commitment, and steady guidance have left a lasting impact on this office and the criminal justice system in Texas,\u201d said Criminal District Attorney Jacob Putman. \u201cWe are grateful for his decades of service and proud to see him recognized with the Kepple Award. His legacy of integrity and professionalism will continue to inspire prosecutors across the state.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. West\u2019s colleagues describe him as a fierce advocate for justice, and a trusted resource in the courtroom and beyond. His retirement marks the close of an extraordinary career.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SMITH COUNTY — The Smith County Criminal District Attorney\u2019s Office announces the retirement of Mike West after 21 years of service with Smith County. West, who has served as the Appellate Chief over the Appeals Division for much of his career, will conclude his tenure at the end of this month. Last week, Mr. West … Continue reading District Attorney\u2019s Office announces retirement of Mike West<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":1446012,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/wp-content\/media\/2025\/09\/mikewest-143x200.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[177],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1445646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news-archive-archives"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-06 18:38:34","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/wp-content\/media\/2025\/09\/mikewest-143x200.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1445646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1445646"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1445646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1446026,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1445646\/revisions\/1446026"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1446012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1445646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1445646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1445646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}