Bedford DA resigns from position; former DA appointed as replacement

Bedford County, PA (WJAC) — Authorities in Bedford County announced mid-day Friday that Leslie Childers-Potts has resigned from her position as the Bedford County District Attorney.

According to court documents, President Judge Travis Livengood has appointed Dwight Diehl, who formerly served as the county's lead prosecutor, to replace her as the DA's office does not have any assistant District Attorneys on staff.

The Bedford County DA's office has faced scrutiny in recent months following multiple mistrials.

It was also revealed last September that the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General would be taking over some of Bedford County's case load due to the short staffing issue.

Childers-Potts recently announced that she was not planning to run for re-election.

"I believe stepping down is the right thing for me to do; it is the right thing for my family and it is the right thing for the county," Childers-Potts said in part in a statement.

Diehl was sworn-in at 3pm on Friday.

Livengood quickly appointed Diehl to take over. However, Diehl told reporters after his swearing-in that he won't stick around for long, saying, "This is a 10-month deal. Come the first Monday of January, 2024, Bedford County will have another new district attorney. It will not be me."

The Republican later said, "I'm not interested in politics."

Asked about resolving issues facing the DA's office recently and what his immediate goals are, he replied: “Please, be patient. This is going to take some time. I really don’t know what I’m walking into. I’ve followed some of the stuff in the paper. Hopefully, a lot of stuff is administrative and I can clean it up quickly.”

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