The County District Attorney’s Office will be losing one of its long-time employees to retirement, the department announced.
Assistant D.A. Lee Cunningham announced his retirement effective Dec. 30, after more than three decades with the department. Cunningham’s last day will be Dec. 30, ending a 32-year career here and 46 total years in public service in SLO County. He’s been the No. 2 man at the SLO County D.A.’s Office for the past 3 years, promoting up when Dan Dow was elected in 2014.
“The decision to retire has been a very difficult one for me, due to the fact that I truly love this job,” Cunningham said in a memo to the staff. “It has been a great pleasure to work with each and every one of you, to see you every work day, and to share the common goal of ‘truth and justice.’ The way I see it, we have the best jobs, in the best place, in the world. If I didn’t believe that, I would not have stayed here 32-1⁄2 years.”
His career began in 1971, serving as a correctional officer at the California Men’s Colony. In 1973, he became a police officer at San Luis Obispo Police Department, where he served more than six years.
Over that time, Cunningham attended a local law school and passed the California Bar Exam. He practiced as a private attorney for six years, before joining the D.A.’s Office in July 1985, and he’s worked there for more than 32 years.
“I am very grateful to Lee for his genuine friendship, his trusted advice, and for his excellence in service to this Office and to our community,” said D.A. Dow. “I will miss him immensely. Lee is highly respected and admired by not only our community, including the D.A.’s Office, the Superior Court, and the local bar, but also by many from the broader criminal justice community across California because of his 20-year participation on the California District Attorneys Association Legislative Committee.”
Cunningham is also the chairman of the San Luis Obispo County Anti- Human Trafficking Task Force and co-chair of the Intimate Partner Violence Coalition (formerly known as the Domestic Violence Task Force).
He has prosecuted most every type of case the D.A.’s Office handles, including numerous jury trials leading to murder convictions. Among those were: People v. Brandon Henslee, People v. Kelsey Morasei, and People v. Kaylee Weisenberg.
Cunningham has taught trial advocacy for the California District Attorneys Association and has been a member of that organization’s Legislative Committee since 1997.
Reached via email, Cunningham said his future plans include, “Work on the house, play golf, take guitar lessons [maybe], get my pilot’s license current again [maybe], help my son and his wife with their law practice [a little], help my son with his legislative work, travel, some teaching part time [criminal justice — Cuesta] and spend more time with my wife, kids, and grandkids,” which sounds like a full and busy retirement.
