Any advice on dos and dont's for a prosecutor pro tem? I would to hear both from those who have seen it done and those who done it. What pitfalls did you side-step or fall into?

Make sure you get paid.

Ben,

Call Kriste Burnett or Martin Strahan in Johnson County DA's Office. They've done it for us in the recent past.

Most times, don't expect extra $$$$:

CCP 2.07
(b) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, if the appointed attorney is also an attorney for the state, the duties of the appointed office are additional duties of his present office, and he is not entitled to additional compensation. Nothing herein
shall prevent a commissioners court of a county from contracting with another commissioners court to pay expenses and reimburse compensation paid by a county to an attorney for the state who is appointed to perform additional duties.

Ben,
Feel free to call or email me directly with specific questions, since Pro-tem'ing is about all I do.
We've got forms for oaths, recusals, statement of appointed officer, etc. that we've developed that have withstood appeal if you need those.

For my two cents, I'd say the most important thing is to listen to the locals. They can give you the skinny on what you're walking into.

Secondly, I always try to find out the local DA's standard discovery and pretrial procedures, as well as their recs for the type of case on which I've been appointed. I then try to stay within those parameters, if possible. I do think it's important that the defendant the pro tem is prosecuting not be in a particularly better or worse position than a similarly situated defendant, simply by virtue of the fact that the DA has a conflict.

Lisa, thanks for the advice. All the paperwork is done. The practical info you all have given is exactly what I need. This office loans our folks out as a courtesy just the same way other offices do for us. Thanks also to Don for his suggestion....I will call Kriste. Cleburne is my hometown.