Prosecutor’s job to full-time long time coming

The proposition for a fulltime prosecutor found favor with voters Tuesday and passed by a vote of 1,366 – 539. The change, which will go into effect January 1, 2011, will allow the Randolph County Prosecuting Attorney to work solely on prosecutorial cases for the county. Part-time prosecutors have to supplement their practice with private practice clients which sometimes creates conflicts of interest. The passage of this issue has eliminated that problem for the prosecutor and the county.

Prosecuting Attorney Mike Fusselman, who has served in the office for 20 years, gives a background history of the workings of the office as part-time and explains the benefits of going full-time.

“Relative to many third class counties, Randolph County historically prosecutes a substantial number of criminal cases annually. Historically, third class counties were considered part time jobs going into the 1990’s. Most attorneys could manage a private practice and still work the prosecutor’s position without compromising their private practice. However, as case levels increased, prosecutors were faced with the dilemma of adequately addressing a higher criminal caseload but preserving some semblance of a private practice. The level of time commitment was changing. In order to retain qualified professionals in this field, statutes were passed that allowed counties to opt into a full-time county prosecutor position. 

“We’ve needed to make the change to full-time prosecutor since the mid-90’s. The need for a new courthouse and jail facility pre-empted any efforts to make this change. Meeting the then Presiding Commissioner, Fred Ward, I agreed that the importance of establishing new facilities outweighed the need for a full-time position and agreed to continue developing my private practice at 200 East Rollins in Moberly. There was not enough room in the plans to include a prosecutor’s office. We continued with the arrangement to operate out of Rollins St for the time being.

“The current county commission met with me last fall. After considerable discussion and review, a determination had been made that it was in Randolph County’s best interest to have a full-time prosecutor. I believe the proposition passed this time because of the commissioners’ efforts to educate the public on the importance of this decision and how the county would benefit from the change.

“Although the campaign efforts were directed towards creating this position and not about the person holding that position, I am grateful to the commissioners and the community for giving me an opportunity to represent Randolph County as its first full-time prosecutor. According to unofficial numbers, the voters strongly supported the change to full-time and I look forward to assuming that roll for the next term.

“I am grateful for the change to work one job instead of two. As I get older, I realize it is not an easy task to do both jobs effectively and I do not envy those prosecutors with similar caseloads. It will be much easier to execute the responsibilities of prosecutor without the worries of a private practice or the many inherent conflicts that present themselves in doing both.”