ATTORNEY GENERAL OFFICE HAS BEEN ASSET TO REGION

The Missouri Attorney General satellite office will remain open in Jackson. It's a good move on the part of the new Attorney General Jay Nixon. The office has served a real purpose in handling both criminal and civil lawsuits, and consumer complaints in Southeast Missouri.

It is the only such office in this part of the state, established by former Attorney General Bill Webster in 1987.

During the last 20 months, the office had been ably handled by attorney Alan Moss. With the Democratic transition in Missouri, Moss' term expired. A new assistant attorney general has not yet been named, so the office is in limbo.

The satellite attorney general office deals mainly with inmate lawsuits and consumer complaints.

Moss estimated about 50-60 percent of his caseload was criminal and civil cases rising out of the Farmington and Potosi correctional centers. The local assistant attorney general must defend the state against these prisoner lawsuits.

In addition, the assistant attorney general can also prosecute a case when a county prosecutor is disqualified. Moss handled four such cases in Cape Girardeau and Bollinger counties.

The remainder of the office's casework is consumer complaint cases. The office is responsible for not only investigating the complaints, but also litigating the cases.

There are probably 125 to 150 inmate cases pending at any one time. As the inmates become more sophisticated in their legal filings, so must the state. Last year, the eastern district of Missouri had one of the highest numbers of cases pending in the nation, and Moss attributes much of that to the prison lawsuits.

Sometimes these prisoners challenge their original convictions or sentences. Other lawsuits deal with conditions of the prisons or use of force by guards. But the really critical cases as far as timely action are litigation against the Missouri Board of Probation and Parole, said Moss. If some of these cases are not handled appropriately and promptly, a prisoner could be released against the wishes of the probation and parole board. That's why these cases demand immediate attention in the region, instead of from offices in St. Louis or Jefferson City.

While the need is great for this office, the costs are fairly minimal. This local office has employed only one attorney and one secretary. The state rents office space in the basement of the courthouse once used by the public defenders office at a cost of $4,500 a year.

During Moss' tenure, the office handled its first criminal consumer cases. His past work as an assistant prosecutor with Cape Girardeau County allowed the office to grow in scope. Moss had also previously worked three years an assistant city attorney for Cape Girardeau. He will enter private practice next week.

We hope the new assistant attorney general appointed in Jackson will continue to be someone in tune with Southeast Missouri. This office has been an asset to the region, and we hope the good work will continue under the new administration.