COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri prosecutors came out on Wednesday against Gov. Mike Parson’s proposal to give the state attorney general the power to prosecute St. Louis homicides.
Leaders of the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys wrote in a statement that prosecutors “stand united against any proposal to vest any new original or concurrent jurisdiction with the Attorney General.”
“The best control is local control,” they wrote in the statement. “Vesting the Attorney General with new original or concurrent jurisdiction erodes the ability of local voters to decide who will seek justice on their behalf should they be victimized by crime.”
Parson, a Republican, asked lawmakers this week to make the change during their ongoing special session on crime.
Missouri’s attorney general currently has limited authority to prosecute crimes, a duty that is in large part left to local prosecutors. Local prosecutors can ask the Attorney General’s office for help if needed.
Many of the other proposals being debated during lawmakers’ special session were supported by the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys. But Parson’s latest request could peel away their support.
