Local opinion: Public safety at Issue in County Attorney race

The primary election in July will decide who the next county attorney will be, as two Democrats are running and no Republican is in the race. I spent 40 years in the office under Neely, LaWall and, briefly, Conover. While many in the community would be hard-pressed to even name whoever holds the office, the election is extremely important to public safety and the smooth running of the county.

The county attorney is responsible for the prosecution of most felony cases throughout the county, juvenile cases and misdemeanor cases committed outside city limits. The office also provides legal services and advice to the Board of Supervisors and each county department. It’s a big job.

Recently, the former chair of the Board, Sharon Bronson, expressed her regret for supporting Laura Conover in the 2020 election because of the manner in which Conover has run the office since being elected. I too supported Conover in that election because I felt the issues she wanted to address and the changes she sought to bring to the office were positive. However, I join Sharon Bronson in regretting that support. The office I spent my career in has been decimated and barely functions. As noted by Bronson, attorneys have fled the office. When I left in March of 2021, there were over 70 prosecutors handling the thousands of cases brought to the office by law enforcement each year.

Today, that number hovers around 40. Caseloads are unmanageably high. When that happens we all suffer. Prosecutors have little time to deal effectively with individual cases to make sure justice is done. Instead they must quickly plead cases to make room for new ones coming in. Victims do not receive justice in their cases and lawbreakers are not held accountable.

The exodus of experienced attorneys from the office is troubling as it leaves few mentors and trainers for the young prosecutor or civil attorney. A self-described progressive prosecutor, Conover has lost 10 female supervisors alone to resignations. Collectively these women had 211 years of legal experience. The resignations of the women supervisors included the heads of the Business and Transactions Unit, Tort, Environmental and Land Use, Cold Case, Violent Crimes, Charging, Special Victims, Vehicular, Domestic Violence and Conover’s own Chief Deputy.

Except for the latter, the rest were career prosecutors and county employees. Over 30 attorneys have left Ms. Conover’s office, not because they disagree with her policies, but rather to flee the chaos. It is not surprising that with public safety on the line, 2 of the 3 major police unions have endorsed Mike Jette for county attorney. The third union has not weighed in as of yet. Your vote in July is critical for public safety.