Full-time Prosecuting Attorney Position on Ballot
Thu, 06/23/2022 - 9:33am
admin
Should the Prosecuting Attorney be a full-time position? Howell County voters will decide in August.
The Howell County Commission passed an order placing the question on the primary ballot. The ballot language reads simply, “Shall the office of Prosecuting Attorney be made a full-time position in Howell County?”
The office currently held by Republican Michael P. Hutchings has “always been considered part-time,” said Howell County Clerk Kelly Waggoner. “Currently, the salary is $74,011.39, and if approved, it would go to $146,812.00 because it would be tied to the Associate Circuit Judge salary.”
Waggoner mentioned that the latter figures are set on July 1 every year, so the actual amount of a full-time prosecutor’s salary could differ by the date of the election.
According to RSMo. 56.363, the full-time salary, “shall become effective upon the date that the prosecutor who is elected at the next election subsequent to the passage of such proposal is sworn into office.”
Incumbent Hutchings is running unopposed in the August primary.