Questions from the Campaign Trail
What is your response to the allegation that Marshall County has higher incidents of child abuse than surrounding counties?
One can’t look merely at the number of court filings in each county and summarily state that Marshall County has a bigger child abuse problem than other counties. We could easily make our numbers go down by not filing cases or dismissing cases, but we would not be doing our job.
The numbers are quite possibly higher because we’re out there filing whenever we see a need while other counties may not be so aggressive. In some surrounding counties the burden of filing some child abuse charges is left to other county agencies, such as law enforcement. I don’t believe in taking a chance that any child “gets lost “ in the paperwork. We file ALL dependency, neglect, and abuse cases even those that by the criteria of other agencies might not get filed. We take no chances and file proactively.
So another way to look at the higher child abuse cases is that we are doing a better job of identifying and prosecuting child abuse than other counties.
That being said, I am not denying that child abuse is an issue. One of my planned initiatives is to institute weekly meetings with social workers and to work to broaden the scope of the community members, such as teachers and mental health counselors, who attend those meetings. I believe this will aid in building more solid cases that will keep additional kids out of dangerous situations.
How do you plan to handle dependency, neglect, and abuse cases?
One of my planned initiatives is to institute weekly meetings with social workers and to work to broaden the scope of the community members, such as teachers and mental health counselors, who attend those meetings. I believe this will aid in building more solid cases that will keep additional kids out of dangerous situations.
These weekly meetings to discuss evidence and build cases are critical because, unfortunately, when it comes to protecting many kids, I do not believe the law is always in our favor. The law says we have to do everything within our means to reunite kids with their parents. The sad truth of that is that since so many of our child abuse cases stem from drug abuse—the overwhelming majority of dependency, neglect, and abuse cases are substance abuse related-- it can take years for parents to be in a position to truly be a parent again. In the meantime, the kids are shuffled and lack stability which often results in those kids repeating the same mistakes of their parents. My hands and the hands of judges are often tied when it comes to this reunification, but I want to do whatever I can to ensure I am supporting the social workers and to ensure I have all the facts to present to the judge. I believe weekly meetings with a broadened scope of attendees/stakeholders is vital for that.
Moreover, I believe we must mobilize more of our community and church organizations to stand up and be a part of the solution for these kids needing stability. Beyond some of the wonderful programs like DARE and Reducing the Risk that I work with professionally, my wife and I have always supported kid- focused programs in our personal life. In these past three years alone, we have helped offer two new outreach programs, CenterShot and DayShore, to the kids in our community. GEMS of Grace is a mentoring program we are also excited to be involved in at South Marshall Middle School. My wife and I believe we have to work just as hard in our personal life as our professional life to combat negatives in society like child abuse, and we hope to continue serving in that capacity and helping organize others to do the same.
" I don’t believe in taking a chance that any child 'gets lost' in the paperwork.
We file ALL dependency, neglect, and abuse cases even those that by the criteria of other agencies might not get filed. "
What would you say the three biggest roles of the County Attorney’s position are?
The three biggest or busiest roles of the county attorney are prosecution, legal representation to county government, and child support. Prosecution is the one most folks are familiar with. Probably 90% or more of all criminal cases come through our office. The more serious cases move upstairs to circuit court where felonies are handled, but that leaves us with the bulk of the caseload.
Legal representation to county government is one of the roles I enjoy the most. It has been fun over the year to work with three very different judge executives. Mike Miller was a breed all unto his own, Madame Judge Chyrill Miller was a much softer, calmer, prettier version of Mike, and then comes along the Marine Kevin Neal. All had unique styles, and I’ve enjoyed working with all of them.
As for child support, we return about $11.40 for every dollar of our contract from the state, which usually runs around $2.5 million per year. That efficiency puts us #1 in western Kentucky, top 15% in the state, and is more than double the national average. We do this on a contract that isn’t exactly fair either. For example, I can show you counties that have half of our population but receive more than double the funds we get. That doesn’t make sense to me, but we do our best to maximize what we have to work with.
Why are you running as an Independent?
This office is primarily a prosecutor’s office. Much like a judicial office, partisan politics has no place at the table when it comes to seeking justice. Justice is what I am tasked with doing every day. Judges already are not permitted to run partisan races, and I don’t believe prosecutor races should be any different.
Additionally, I consider myself a fairly free thinker. You cannot “pigeon hole” me into one party over another. I agree with some of the Democratic platform, but not all of it, and the same goes with the Republican platform.
Since I believe in people over party, I’ve voted for Democrats, Republican, and for third party candidates. I educate myself and vote for the man or woman most qualified for a position--no matter the political party. Moreover, I prosecute no matter the political party.
I pride myself on having a proven track record of working well with both Democrats and Republicans. Through three different judge-executives and eight different commissioners, I’ve never had any trouble communicating with or getting things done with any of them. I have solved problems instead of fueling them. I drafted a passable alcohol ordinance when our county was split. I took the initiative to schedule meetings when it looked like the Sanitation issue in Draffenville was stalled.
I listen to both sides and help our elected officials move forward within the boundaries of the law—not within the boundaries of my personal politics.
What is the biggest constraint the County Attorney has?
I would give anything to have a drug court for misdemeanor offenders. At the moment the option of sending someone to Drug Court is only available to the Commonwealth Attorney. We at the County Attorney’s office do not have the option of sending someone with a misdemeanor to Drug Court.
Due to the intensive nature of this program and the time it takes, the cost for counselors, office personnel, and drug testing is way beyond the scope of anything I could properly address in the County Attorney’s budget even if state and federal funds weren’t already earmarked by statute for child support collection, office salaries, and sometimes office equipment. However, I am closely monitoring potential grant sources, and I will most certainly apply if given the chance.
There are laws as to how our state and federal funds can be spent. All of the money we receive at the moment, whether it be from state or county sources, is earmarked by law for office expenses, salaries, benefits, and office supplies.
Thus even if I could, in a perfect world, find enough money in our budget to fund this program without cutting employees or other vital services to our public, state mandates would prevent me from using the funds in our budget for such programs as Drug Court.
Still, I believe that a funded drug court for our County Attorney office would work wonders for our community. Out of all of the rehab options that are out there, drug court seems, by far, to be one of the best treatment option available. It offers treatment that gives addicts the tools they need to fight addiction AND it holds addicts accountable by requiring sometimes daily drug tests. Education and Accountability are necessary for true success; however, the means to provide that is costly.
In our Circuit Court, Drug Court is funded, for the most part, through a grant. I would love for the state and federal government to invest in more programs like this and make them more available to offices like ours.
How do you feel that you have been transparent in your work?
Almost everything I do and have done is public record, so it’s hard to be more transparent than that. I’ve had an 88% dui conviction rate over 10 years, three points higher than the state average. We routinely require two and three times more than the statutory minimum on repeat offenders.
Recently, we began cracking down harder on shoplifting by instituting harsher penalties, and I think we’ve seen a reduction in that. Over $2 million dollars has been collected for crime victims the past 10 years, that’s over $800 per business day. I’ve handled well in excess of 20,000 cases on the criminal side, and thousands more on the child support side. I’ve tried over 75 cases to jury verdict, most of those being criminal. That’s probably more trials than any other attorney in Marshall County during that same time period. I’m proud of the work we’ve done as an office.
What is the most difficult part of your daily job as Assistant County Attorney?
On a routine basis we talk to and visit with people who have been wronged in some form or fashion, but the conduct in question, for a variety of reasons, does not always fit under the definition of criminal conduct. By law the County Attorney can only deal with criminal actions. So sadly, when people call with valid complaints which are often in the form of a landlord/tenant dispute, a loan gone bad, or someone getting a raw deal buying a car, we can’t help them.
It’s very difficult when someone has come asking for help, but there is no action as county attorney we can take on his or her behalf. We can sometimes tell them what to do, but can’t do it for them. When you know that justice needs to be served and you can’t help, that is frustrating.
But more difficult than that is the negative cycle of crime you sometimes witness in the lives of families. It is painful to watch some people so trapped in their bad decisions. This is one of the things that motivates me to do more educating and mentoring.
What is your favorite childhood memory?
My parents have always instilled in me great pride for our country. One of the things I remember fondly from my childhood is our yearly summer trips. My parents made it a priority to visit different scenic and historical sites all over our country most summers. I have been to numerous national parks, countless museums, and maybe a few ballparks along the way. On our trips there was always an emphasis on our national treasurers.
Thus, when the Persian Gulf War started in 1991, as expected, my family, like most in our country, exhibited an overwhelming sense of patriotism, and I remember one day, as a 14 year old, overhearing that there were going to be war protesters in Murray. I made a comment to my father that we should go “shut them up,” but my Dad responded with a reminder that even if I disagreed, the protests were what make our country great. He reminded me that those protesters had the same rights as I did. That moment has always stuck with me, and I really believe it was one of the many moments in my life that made me better appreciate the laws in our country.
As a child I didn’t always appreciate the many ways my parents instilled a value for our nation and our laws; but today I am aware of the importance of those lessons.
My profession allows me to hold in high regard the laws that protect all citizens each and every day. I don’t believe there is a more fitting job for me. I love helping people, and I love upholding our country’s values. As a prosecutor, I get to do both.
How do you explain the Marshall County Attorney’s Office receiving more from the fiscal court in its budget than McCracken or Calloway for example?
The demographics of the counties has much to do with that. Look at McCracken County, and then look at how much space Paducah takes up in McCracken County. If the McCracken County Attorney’s Office had to deal with all of the issues of Paducah city government, then rest assured their budget would be much, much larger. The same can be said for Calloway County and Murray as a city.
Marshall County is different. We are a rural county where 75% or more of the citizens reside outside city limits, so therefore we have many more issues to deal with as a county government. Thus, our county budget is larger than some surrounding counties that don’t share that same demographic.
I have never been in charge of the budget in our office, but I am looking forward to this opportunity. Right now we have seven non-attorney staff members. Three in child support to handle over 2,000 cases, one to handle bad checks and tax collections, two to handle criminal, traffic, juvenile, and disability court, and one receptionist to direct traffic in the office. I can’t imagine losing the funding for any one of these positions. Our phones ring from 8:00-4:30, and we have a steady flow of traffic from walk-ins and from officers needing assistance on a variety of issues. All of the positions we have are needed. Every county attorney’s office in the state is funded differently from different sources, so it is very difficult to compare situations. For example, some counties have grants, we have none.
Thus, I feel all seven of our non-attorney staff members are vital to running our office effectively. Nevertheless, I am sure that there are other areas in our budget where I can “tighten our belt” and/or redirect money towards better uses. I already plan to move from three part-time attorneys costing the county three salary and benefit packages to 2 salary packages.
I am ready and excited for the challenge of making a new budget. My wife won’t let me do it at home; so I need an outlet.
You say you can save taxpayer dollars, but you recently got a raise. Explain that.
My raise coincided with me closing my private practice and going full time, meaning I am at the County Attorney’s office all day, every day instead of also working and earning income at my private office 2 days a week. My added responsibilities at the County Attorney’s office include everything from answering the phones, assisting child support workers, meeting with walk-ins, to anything else that needs to be done. Going full time meant that I work at least 2 more 8 hour-days a week which equates to roughly 750 more hours a year spent working at the County Attorney’s office. So, the raise I received comes out to approximately $13.00 for each of these new hours I am working. This raise was made possible from fees collected from our office—no additional tax-payer funds were collected. It was simply an internal shifting of monies to address additional work that needed be done. I consider the work I am doing for our county to be worth the $13.00 an hour. I work; I don’t take advantage of tax-payers.
Moreover, while I have never been in charge of the County Attorney’s budget, I am looking forward to having the opportunity to scrutinize it if elected. Working at the County Attorney’s office full time has helped me realize that two full-time lawyers will be able to carry the load whereas in the past we have always had three part time attorneys. Thus, one of the ways I already know I plan to save tax-payers money is by hiring only one new, full-time assistant. I have never had the authority to manage our budget, but I do believe I can make changes to the benefits of substantial savings.
What ideas are you excited about implementing in the County Attorney’s office?
I am excited about re-working the budget and bringing on one full-time assistant. I am a penny pincher by nature. When I’m running, I only stop to take a drink from the Gatorade bottle or pick up money on the ground, even if it’s just a penny. Finding change literally excites me. With two full-time attorneys I know we can offer more to the people for less money.
After conversations with our social workers, I know what they feel they need to do their job better. I want to work with them to provide those weekly meetings they requested and enlist more help for them in compiling and documenting evidence to help keep kids in more stable environments. It excites me to think these measures might help reduce the cycle that is often perpetuated with kids in foster care and instances of abuse.
I’m also looking forward to a closer working relationship with the school system to better enforce our truancy laws, and I want to make sure that our teachers and counselors know what the options are when they see a child in trouble.
I am also excited about moving our office forward in terms of technology and making our services more available online. We need a website with common forms, services, information about reporting different crimes, etc.
I am excited about the opportunity to “captain the ship” for the first time. I have worked hard the past 14 years to gain experience, and I am ready for the challenge of making this office work better for our citizens.
Do you believe there would be a learning curve for any new prosecutor in a County Attorney’s office.
Like any job, yes. And with the county attorney’s office, more so than most-- particularly when it comes to criminal prosecutions. Over the past 14 years, I’ve developed a unique, trusting relationship with our law enforcement officers and first responders. I’d put my relationship with them up against any other county attorney’s office in the state. At any given time, we’ve got two hundred or more cases going each week, oftentimes totally different cases from the previous week. I don’t care who you are; it will take a significant amount of time for anyone to get up to speed on that. I am not afraid to take a case to trial and I've tried so many DUI cases I can almost get up there and do it without notes.
Finally, I know the system, and I know who is in the system. I know people's histories and what's going on in their lives. That gives me a distinct advantage over anyone coming in new.
With me, there is no learning curve, no speed bumps, no figuring things out. I pick up on January 1 ready to make the changes I want to make our office even better.