The Grundy County Commission says the county can’t afford a full-time prosecutor. The prosecutor says the county can’t afford to not have one. Ultimately it will be up to the voters to make the decision.
Grundy County Prosecuting Attorney Kelly Puckett is in the process of gathering signatures on a petition that would ask voters to approve a measure that would move the current part-time position to a full-time position. While few would argue that a full-time prosecutor might do more of what they’re hired to do – prosecute criminals – those extra hours would come at a cost. As a part-time prosecutor, Puckett’s salary is currently set at $48,898.80, and he is expected to spend 20 hours per week tending to the prosecution of cases. Puckett does not provide civil legal services to the county, which pays for an attorney for legal advice, correspondence, etc.
If the issue is placed on the ballot and is approved by voters, his salary – set by the state – would equal that of the associate judge, currently $146,812. That’s about $97,914 more that would need to come from the county’s General Revenue Fund. That’s where the county commission has a problem with the idea.
The commission approved the 2022 budget in January, cringing at the thought of a $1.8 million deficit and a fund balance that would be about $500,000 less than it started with when the year ends if the budget plays out as anticipated. The General Revenue Fund, in particular, looks bleak with an estimated ending balance of $1,615.72. One can see where the concern is coming from.
According to Presiding Commissioner Phillip Ray, the ones who would suffer if the county is forced to pay for a full-time prosecutor are the other employees.
“I don’t want to use the word ‘RIF’ (reduction in force), but that’s about the only thing we could do to offset that cost,” Ray said.
He didn’t elaborate on whether or not that would mean cutting entire positions or reducing the hours employees work and are paid for each week. It could also mean an increase in the amount county employees have to pay for insurance.
Ray also said the county is looking at having to increase the salary for the Grundy County Sheriff, which would rise from the current salary of $45,777.60 to one-half the amount paid to the associate judge, which would be $73,406.04. Again, that unfunded mandate would have to come from the General Revenue fund.
Puckett has ideas for helping pay for the change, such as moving his office to the courthouse and renting out the current prosecutor’s office, which is the old county jail. Puckett said he has also entered into an agreement with Mercer and Harrison counties in which he and the prosecutors in those counties cover for each other in situations where there is a conflict of interest – meaning the county wouldn’t have to pay for those costs.
Puckett, who needs a minimum of 450 signatures on the petition to get the issue on the November ballot, said the real reason he is seeking to make the position full-time is that the amount of cases that need to be filed and seen through the legal process is increasing. His efforts as a “rehabilitator” take more time and effort than just prosecuting a case and sending the person to prison for a minimum mandated time. Puckett noted that all of the departments he works with – the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Trenton Police Department, the Grundy County Sheriff’s Office, the NITRO Task Force, Missouri Fire Marshal’s Office, etc., have full-time officers who are sending him reports on a full-time basis.
“And I’m only supposed to be here for 20 hours,” he explained, noting that he probably donates $6,000 to $9,000 in attorney time each month.
The three other counties in the Third Judicial Circuit – Harrison, Mercer and Putnam – all have part-time prosecutors, as does Daviess County.
There are area counties that have full-time prosecutors, such as Livingston and DeKalb.
One issue that has been a problem for Grundy County in years past is the difficulty in getting local county residents to seek the position – most likely due to the part-time status (and thus part-time pay) of the position. Former prosecutors, including the late Chris Raynes and current Associate Judge Steve Hudson were from Grundy County and supplemented their part-time prosecutor salaries with private law practices. Two other recent prosecutors, Christine Stallings and Carrie Lamm Clark, purchased residences in Grundy County and both maintained private practices. Puckett, who was appointed to the position by Gov. Mike Parson in January 2019 following the resignation of Ms. Clark and recently moved to Trenton from Cameron, said he no longer has a private practice and feels that doing so takes away from being where he needs to be when he is needed for the prosecutor’s office. If voters approve the position as full-time, Puckett – nor any future prosecutor – would be able to have a private practice.
Puckett, who is running unopposed on the Republican ticket in the August Primary (no one filed on the Democrat ballot) said he feels like the position will not only pay for itself in time, but it will serve the residents of Grundy County. He said as a full-time prosecutor, he can be there for the victims and for law enforcement, filing more charges, cleaning up the drug problem, seeking treatment and rehabilitation when appropriate or prison time when it is warranted. For him, the question is definitely not if the county can afford it.
“The real question,” he said. “Is can we afford not to do it.”
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