PALESTINE — Two young women — Kristin Kaye and intern Karla Hardy — have recently joined the Anderson County District Attorney’s Office as assistant district attorneys — and both claim their respective roles have given them a unique experience in practicing law.

Kaye, whose position with the DA’s office was approved by county commissioners last year, began her role as ADA on Jan. 3. Her primary responsibilities include Class C misdemeanor cases in the Justice of the Peace Courts and in Frankston.

 Kaye has already spent several days in the courtroom.

“I went to court Tuesday with the new county judge presiding,” Kaye said. “It was a lot of fun. I did a lot of the things done in county court, like arraignment dockets and plea agreements.”

A San Antonio native, Kaye did her undergraduate work at the University of Texas in San Antonio, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She attended law school at St. Mary’s University, graduating in May 2010.

Kaye’s decision to go to law school came in a very roundabout way, she said, as she first started out training to be a pharmacy tech.

“I was a pharmacy tech when Medicare Part D came out, and I spent a lot of my time fighting for the people using it,” she said. “I realized I wanted to make the system work the way it’s supposed to — to help people by doing that.”

Kaye found the opening in Anderson County through a website, and having friends who grew up in East Texas, she felt Palestine would be a good place to call home.

“I like small towns and the way people are to each other,” she said. “I interviewed with (assistant district attorneys) Scott Holden and Trevor Theilen and district attorney Doug Lowe, and through that just felt that Palestine would be the right fit for me,”

Like any new attorney, Kaye’s favorite part of her job has been the work done in the courtroom — an experience she believed she might not get in a large town or firm.

“I like being in the courtroom,” she said. “In the bigger areas, I might not be able to get in the courtroom my first week, but here I have. It is fun.”

Hardy, a sworn-in assistant district attorney with Anderson County, began her one-year public service internship through her Washington D.C. law firm, Hogan Lovells LLP, on Nov. 29, 2010.

“I chose to do the internship here in Palestine because I have family here,” Hardy said. “I have spent the last several years out of state and wanted the opportunity to be close to family for a little while.

“My family moved to Tyler when I was 13 years old and I graduated from John Tyler High School,” she said. “My family later moved to Palestine.”

Hardy was born in Kansas City, Kan. and spent her childhood in Oklahoma City before she and her family moved to Texas. After high school graduation, Hardy earned a bachelor’s degree from Iowa State University and attended law school at the University of Virginia.

“I have always wanted to be a lawyer,” Hardy said. “The law is a language that needs to be translated so people can communicate their right. As a lawyer, it is our job to help people do that translating.”

As a senior in high school, Hardy’s desire to practice law was confirmed through her participation in the Teen Court program, which allowed teens to participate in the legal process by serving as attorney, jurors, etc.

“I served as a prosecutor and a defense attorney,” she said. “After a few weeks of Teen Court, I found that there was more room to make a difference as a prosecutor.”

Like Kaye, Hardy was immediately put in the courtroom when she began her work with Anderson County. Much of her casework includes misdemeanors, some felonies and asset forfeitures (the seizure of assets involved in commission of a crime).

“Almost every day of my first week I was in the courtroom,” Hardy said. “I was second chair in misdemeanor and felony trials and did some plea negotiation work.

“I am working with a great group of lawyers here,” she added. “They are fun and smart and they take their jobs seriously. It has been a great experience for me.”

As for future plans, Hardy said she would love to be a district attorney or U.S. Attorney one day.

“Because I love trials,” she said. “I love to be in the courtroom.”

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Mary Rainwater may be reached via e-mail at mrainwater@palestineherald.com.