If Sherri Bevan Walsh is elected to a record-setting fifth term as Summit County prosecutor, her top priority will be resurrecting the idea of shifting felony defense representation for the poor from private attorneys to a public defender’s office.
But John Chapman, her opponent in the Nov. 8 election and one of the lawyers who gets these felony appointments, said this change would be a mistake.
“I think it would be a mass-incarceration machine,” said Chapman, a former prosecutor in Cuyahoga Falls and Munroe Falls.
Walsh said the switch would save the county money, make the court schedule move more smoothly and result in better representation of felony defendants by public defenders whose work would be supervised.
“I get that private attorneys don’t want to lose business,” Walsh said.
The public-defender change, which has been bandied about for many years, is among the issues that have emerged in the prosecutor’s campaign. Walsh said her office is studying the issue, including crunching numbers and looking at what’s done in other counties, with plans to take more definitive steps after the election and the start of the new year.
Joseph Kodish, who has long headed the public defender’s office that represents indigent defendants charged with misdemeanors in Summit County, said the stumbling block for this switch has been opposition from judges to changing what many see as a patronage system for local attorneys. Kodish said, however, that he would be open to examining the switch.
“Maybe the time is right, now,” he said.
If elected, Chapman said he would forma diversion program for those in trouble for failing to pay child support. He said the program would allow people to adjust their income levels if they have a job change and to avoid going to prison or losing their driver’s licenses.
Walsh said her office already works with people who owe child support, only prosecuting those who have never paid support and owe more than $5,000. She said such prosecutions have resulted in the collection of more than $40 million.
Chapman said he also would try to be more active and visible in the community and would regularly spend time in the courtroom.
“I’m a working prosecutor,” he said.
“When was the last time she handled a drug case?” he asked of Walsh.
Walsh said Summit County has the fourth-largest prosecutor’s office in Ohio, with more than 200 employees and a budget of about $17 million a year. She said she has prosecuted cases herself but mainly leaves this to her staff.
“If somebody wants to carry a caseload and do a lot of trial work, that is what assistant prosecutors do,” she said.
As for being active in the community, Walsh said this is one of the positive changes she’s made during her time in office. She pointed, for example, to the monthly self-defense classes she has for women around the county, safety-awareness efforts for seniors and training programs for other agencies on helping crime victims.
Walsh criticized Chapman for missing a few court appearances while a prosecutor, resulting in the dismissal of charges.
“This is a very difficult job,” she said. “You cannot forget to show up. You cannot be late.” Chapman blamed his absence on computer problems that resulted in him not receiving timely notification about the court dates.
Chapman said he is getting out in the community and telling people why he would be a positive alternative to Walsh, including a recent meeting he had with African-American pastors in Akron.
“I’m offering the people something different: a prosecutor involved in the community and in the courts,” he said.
Walsh, however, said she still enjoys what she’s doing and isn’t done yet, despite a scare with breast cancer that had some speculating about whether she would run again. She is in remission and said she not only wants to win in November, but to seek another term after that.
“It has been a job I have loved for many years and that I’m not ready to leave,” she said. “I feel the same as I did when I first started — looking for things to do and things to do better.”
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705, swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com and on Twitter: @swarsmithabj.