Rural Missouri counties that don’t have candidates for prosecutor to elect in November may have to combine counties and share.
“In some instances, they call them tri-counties, where the prosecutor manages three counties, or the governor can appoint a prosecuting attorney, which is what sounds like will happen, but you're going to need a willing individual who wants to be appointed,” said attorney Joel Schwartz who once worked as a public defender.
Schwartz made the comments after hearing that eight rural counties do not have candidates for voters to choose from for the role of part-time prosecutor at the upcoming Aug. 2 primary.
“The governor has the authority to appoint whomever he would like,” he said. “The danger there is it makes a political appointment based upon who's in office as opposed to who the populace wants.”
Among the obstacles in attracting political candidates for the elected position of part-time prosecutor is low pay.
“They can certainly raise pay and create some sort of statewide program so that prosecutors don't make a lot of mistakes because some prosecutors are very, very good and some merely bow to the will of the people in order to stop a case and get a conviction,” Schwartz told the St. Louis Record. “So, there's an inherent danger in a lot of these rural counties. Maybe we'll get more qualifications if there is some sort of statewide program to oversee what these individuals are doing.”
When Schwartz worked as a public defender in the 1980s, he was only earning $23,000 but turned down high-paying jobs for the job experience.
"In those 33 or 34 years now, I think the pay has only slightly more than doubled when it should be significantly higher and, unfortunately, it becomes a function of economics," he said. "I think it just becomes impossible for people to make a living on a public defender and prosecutorial salary."
As previously reported in Missouri Lawyers Media, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft acknowledged that the eight vacancies indicate a growing trend. In 2011, a governor-appointed prosecutor was needed for only two counties, Schuyler and Worth.
“It’s a very, very interesting quandary,” Schwartz said. “I've never heard of it before. Usually taking the reins as prosecuting attorney can be a satisfying job for some people who want to be career prosecutors and can utilize it as a stepping stone or it can simply increase their notoriety in that particular area to continue to make a living down the road.”