Joe Shannon, Jr., chair of the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors, has been appointed by Gov. Rick Perry as Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney for a term to expire at the next general election. The appointment is subject to Senate confirmation. Shannon is the chief of the economic crimes and computer crime unit in the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office and an adjunct professor of law at Texas Wesleyan University. He replaces Tim Curry, the longtime Tarrant County district attorney who passed away April 24 at age 70 after a battle with lung cancer.