LAST-MINUTE APPOINTMENT DRAWS FIRE

BENTON -- In one of his last acts as Missouri's governor, John Ashcroft on Friday appointed Democrat Cristy Baker-Neel of Sikeston as prosecuting attorney for Scott County.

She was nominated by the Scott County Republican Committee.

The action prompted criticism from a Democratic Party leader.

Mike Marshall of Sikeston, chairman of the Democratic Central Committee in Scott County, said Ashcroft should have chosen the committee's nominee or have left the appointment to incoming governor Mel Carnahan, who takes office Monday.

"The Democratic Party is very disappointed," Marshall said. "I am not real happy that she got the appointment over who we wanted."

Baker-Neel, an assistant prosecutor in Scott County for the past two years, will serve the remaining two years of the unexpired term of David Dolan. She has practiced criminal law for 7 years.

County officials said she is the first woman to serve as prosecuting attorney in Scott County.

Dolan was elected as an associate circuit judge in November, and took office last Monday.

The 34-year-old Baker-Neel said Friday she was "relieved that this process is over."

Baker-Neel was one of four candidates who had sought to secure the nomination of the Democratic Central Committee.

But the committee on Dec. 28 chose Sikeston Municipal Judge and private attorney Franklin Marshall over the other three. Marshall is a cousin of the committee's chairman.

Mike Marshall acknowledged he wanted his cousin to secure the $39,000-a-year job. But he said, the committee as a whole clearly felt his cousin would be the better prosecutor. He said 10 of the 15 committee votes went to Franklin Marshall.

"We felt that Ashcroft had no interest in filling that position, especially since there was an interim prosecutor appointed," Mike Marshall said.

Circuit Judge Tony Heckemeyer appointed Baker-Neel as interim prosecutor last Monday.

The next day, the Scott County Republican Central Committee interviewed candidates and decided to recommend that Ashcroft appoint Baker-Neel as the permanent prosecuting attorney.

She was chosen over Franklin Marshall and Ella Boone, a Scott County public defender who had also sought the Democratic committee's support.

Bob Gowen, an assistant prosecuting attorney for Cape Girardeau County, also had been a candidate before the Democratic committee. But he did not renew his candidacy before the Republican committee.

Baker-Neel said she and the two other candidates considered by the Republican committee are Democrats.

"The whole field was composed of Democrats. That was why we were surprised that the Republican committee even made a recommendation," she said.

That view was echoed by Mike Marshall.

Marshall said the Democratic committee had hoped Dolan would not have stepped down as prosecutor until Monday, the day Carnahan takes office. "He stepped down a week early," said Marshall.

The Democratic committee chairman said Ashcroft's appointment amounted to a "last hurrah" for the Republican Party.

Marshall expressed concern that Baker-Neel might choose to run as a Republican two years from now when the unexpired term ends.

But Gayle Green, Republican committee chairman, said none of the candidates indicated they would run on the Republican ticket.

Baker-Neel indicated she would consider it, said Green. But she added, "There was no pledge, no promise, no indication that she would."

Green said the issue was not a factor in the decision. "The entire committee knew she was a Democrat and she never made any attempts to hide that fact."

Baker-Neel, who is married to a Republican, said she didn't feel out of place asking the Republican committee to recommend her for the job.

But if Green had had her way, the committee would never have made a recommendation.

"I personally felt that the committee should not make a recommendation to the governor because there were no Republicans (seeking the post) and there were no clear-cut leaders in the race," said Green.

She said Ashcroft, through an aide, had urged the committee to meet and make a recommendation.

"He (the aide) indicated there was a strong feeling on the part of the governor's office that the position of prosecutor should be filled at all times, and not by an interim prosecutor," said Green.

The committee was also swayed to make a recommendation on the advice of Peter Myers of Sikeston at Tuesday's meeting. Myers is a a past deputy secretary of agriculture in the Reagan administration, Green said.

Green said Baker-Neel was not a unanimous choice of committee members in the balloting, but she received the majority of votes.