ST. LOUIS — Lawmakers in Jefferson City are considering a bill that would give the governor power to appoint a special prosecutor to the City of St. Louis, citing a backlog of cases as being one reason for it.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Lane Roberts (R)-Joplin, said he believes a special prosecutor is needed because the crime in St. Louis is impacting the whole state.
“If you talk to somebody in Missouri about a crime, they will point to St. Louis, but talk to somebody outside of St. Louis and they will talk about how dangerous Missouri is. It affects our economy. It affects the decisions for people to send their children to our academic institutions,” Rep. Roberts said.
Roberts said HB301 would allow the governor to appoint a special prosecutor to the City of St. Louis if crime statistics or the backlog of cases shows a threat to public safety.
“There are Missourians who are losing their lives. Sadly...for whatever reason...those officials in those jurisdictions who could do something about it are not,” Roberts said.
Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s Office said in a statement Thursday:
“HB301 is a political gesture based entirely on unfounded premises. The notion that anything presented in the bill will improve our violent crime situation is ridiculous. It defies logic to think the creation of a duplicative department that's totally devoid of the relationships, institutional knowledge, criminal justice partnerships, and experience required to prosecute these complex cases would do anything to curb crime. Addressing the causes of violent crime is an urgent priority and should be a focus for our entire region. The Circuit Attorney's Office welcomes the opportunity to work with legislators with legitimate proposals to address it.”
Rep. Lakeysha Bosley (D)-St. Louis, said this bill is a direct attack on the City of St. Louis.
“We need to be doing all that we can and trying to figure out a way to mitigate crime, but also not exerting or taking away the authority of the people who live here,” Bosley said.
The bill states that the special prosecutor would only focus on murder, assault, robbery and carjacking.
Bosley said she believes the bill's sponsor just does not like the way Gardner is handling things.
“She's in the field to try to give people second chances when it comes to diversion programs. Sometimes when we see those backlog of cases...those people are pending investigation or pending something or they may be in a diversion program,” Bosley said.
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