A petition seeking to put a proposal to convert the office of Daviess County Prosecutor from part-time to full-time did not acquire the required number of signatures to be placed on the Nov. 6 election ballot.
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On Aug. 29 the county’s chief election officer, County Clerk Ronetta Burton, notified the Daviess County Commission that a petition proposing a full-time prosecutor did not obtain the required 381 signatures. The deadline for the ballot was 5 p.m. on Aug. 28. Thus, the proposal will not appear on the November ballot.
The idea was promoted on Facebook by Prosecuting Attorney Annie Gibson following recent elections in neighboring Caldwell, Livingston and DeKalb counties making those positions full time.
The following information was posted on Facebook by Prosecutor Gibson on Aug. 26 as support for making the position full-time:
- More than 1,200 cases are handled by the prosecuting attorney’s office each fiscal year
- The prosecutor is paid for less than 16 hours per week although on call 24/7
- The prosecutor works with 13 full-time law enforcement officers within this jurisdiction
- The hourly rate, figured recently while preparing for a trial, amounted to $9 per hour, which compares to the average billing rate of $200 per hour for this area according to the Missouri Lawyers’ Weekly
Prosecutor Gibson met with county commissioners on Aug. 8 requesting the part-time position become full-time. The following week the commission notified Gibson of their decision against putting the decision on the November ballot, suggesting that Ms. Gibson could pursue the matter by initiative petition.
The prosecutor met with the county commissioners again on Aug. 29, presenting statistics on her activities during recent years.