Missouri attorney general Schmitt reflects on year in office, looks to 2020

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt stopped by the Southeast Missourian offices Friday to talk about his first year in office. Schmitt was sworn in Jan. 3, and he’s reflecting on the past year while looking ahead to 2020.

“We’ve tried to maintain focus on victims and on the rule of law,” Schmitt said.

A pending lawsuit against opioid manufacturers is a necessary step in an “epidemic,” Schmitt said, citing more than 65 deaths in Missouri and 140 deaths per day nationwide.

“I’ve learned a lot in my time, just in talking to people,” Schmitt said, and described tragic scenarios he’s learned of. “We have a sense of urgency about this,” he added.

Schmitt said the website realopioidpain.com gives Missourians an opportunity to describe their own experiences with opioids, and potentially serve as witnesses.

“We’re trying to clear the backlog on sexual assault kits, as well,” Schmitt said. In November, his office finished an inventory, and found more than 6,000 unprocessed kits from sexual assault cases statewide.

“First, we’re tracking, then seeking more funding to process them,” Schmitt said of the kits. “Obviously, that’s really important to us. It’s inexcusable that those sat on shelves as long as they did.”

In a November news release, Schmitt said, “It’s important to remember these kits are not just numbers. They are not footnotes to the reporting of a crime. They represent real human beings, who have suffered, confronted their fears, reported the assault and submitted a kit.”

A Sexual Assault Forensic Exam, or SAFE, kit contains samples that could yield DNA or fibers belonging to an assailant.

A $2.8 million federal grant has allowed the attorney general’s office to conduct the inventory and follow-up work, according to previous reporting by the Southeast Missourian.

Schmitt’s report calls for creation of an electronic tracking system and testing the kits. The agency plans to seek more funding to test every kit.

The consumer protection division of the attorney general’s office is kept busy, Schmitt said.

To that end, the Safe Citizens Initiative aims to give additional protections to populations targeted by scams, he said.

“We went around the state talking to populations in particular targeted by scams and scam artists,” Schmitt said. Scammers might call a grandparent and say their grandchild is in trouble, and needs thousands of dollars wired immediately.

From that extreme to the run-of-the-mill phone scam, Schmitt said, residents statewide are targeted continually.

In fact, he said, “a lawyer in our office got a call from someone saying they were the attorney general, and the lawyer needed to send money right then, or would be sent to jail. It wasn’t me,” Schmitt quipped. “But we do encourage people to remember that the Internal Revenue Service, law enforcement agencies, won’t call you and say you’re going to jail.”

If anyone has questions, Schmitt said, “Reach out to our office.”

It’s about empowering people with information about what to do in those situations, Schmitt noted.

Schmitt also mentioned the Safer Streets Initiative, calling it a unique partnership between his office and United States attorneys in the Eastern District and Western District, aiming to fight violent crime in more urban areas of the state.

“We have a lot of work to do, and we know we can’t prosecute our way out of the problem entirely, but we want to do our part to be part of the solution.”

“There’s a lot to do, and a lot going on in the office,” Schmitt said. “It’s an incredible job, and I get to work with great people. Certainly, it’s a time of reflection and gratitude for me at the end of the year.”

Schmitt said certainly he deals with high-profile cases destined to go on to the United States Supreme Court, but the smaller-profile cases are important to the daily lives of Missouri residents.

“A contractor who walked away with $5,000, for that Missourian, that’s the most important thing going on in their life. We’re focused on that, too,” Schmitt said.