St. Croix's David Atkinson will take over as acting U.S. attorney in the Virgin Islands following the resignation Thursday of James A. Hurd Jr.
Atkinson, who has been criminal chief in the V.I. district since 1996, was appointed by U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno late Thursday. The appointment is effective for 120 days or until a permanent U.S. attorney is nominated by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
From 1991 to 1998, Atkinson served as the managing assistant U.S. attorney for the district’s branch office on St. Croix. He first joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 1988 as an assistant U.S. attorney and was assigned to the St. Croix office.
Prior to moving to the Virgin Islands, Atkinson was a deputy district attorney in Lane County, Eugene, Ore., from 1975 to 1978.
He obtained his undergraduate degree from Occidental College in Los Angeles in 1972 and his juris doctor degree from Northwestern Law School, Lewis and Clark College in 1975. He has been a member of the Oregon State Bar since 1975 and the Virgin Islands Bar since 1989. He is married and has three children.
Hurd, meanwhile, declined to discuss his immediate plans. He had been in the Virgin Islands since 1980. Friends say he has accepted a position in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Houston.
