Placer County finally gets new district attorney, a veteran prosecutor from Sacramento

Placer County supervisors on Tuesday tapped a veteran Sacramento prosecutor to take over as district attorney, the fourth person to hold the job since December.

Morgan Gire, an assistant chief deputy to Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert, was selected to be Placer’s new D.A. and take over an office that has been roiled by internal politics and criticism from citizens.

Gire was sworn in as district attorney in the board chambers, where supervisors and Gire were maintaining social distancing because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I am ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work,” Gire told the board, adding that the post was his “dream job.”

The upheaval began with the sudden retirement of Placer District Attorney Scott Owens, who decided to step down Dec. 30 after serving less than a year in his new, four-year term and recommend the board appoint his longtime deputy, Jeff Wilson, to the post.

Wilson took over as interim D.A. and was one of about a dozen candidates seeking to be appointed to the post full-time. But his selection resulted in a barrage of letters — pro and con — from citizens, law enforcement groups and office employees to board members weighing in on Wilson’s candidacy.

Then, two months into his tenure as interim D.A., he was suddenly placed on administrative leave, with county Executive Officer Todd Leopold saying “it was easier to have Jeff step away as we narrow down the pool.”

Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Miszkewycz was selected to take over temporarily while the board considered candidates from several county D.A.’s offices.

Gire, who has worked in the Sacramento D.A.’s office for about 15 years, received strong backing from Schubert, who wrote a February 18 letter to Placer officials praising him as “immensely qualified.”

“He possesses a unique combination of natural leadership, breadth of experience and quality of character,” she wrote. “He is passionate about Placer County as he grew up there and went to local schools.”

In Sacramento, Gire oversaw units dealing with training and ethics, community prosecution, government relations and legislative issues.

“He has conducted over 100 jury trials, including nearly 80 felony cases,” Schubert wrote. “His experience includes such crimes as sexual assault, child abuse, gang and homicide prosecution.”

Gire’s experience in court in Sacramento included the 2009 prosecution of a woman who used methamphetamine for two days and ended up delivering it to her baby through her breast milk, killing the 8-week-old child, according to Sacramento Bee archives.

Gire, 46, a graduate of San Diego State University and the Vanderbilt University School of Law, was admitted to the California State Bar in 1999.