A judge has dismissed the Knox County’s Board’s motion to deny State’s Attorney John Pepmeyer the authority to hire a special prosecutor to handle juvenile cases.The County Board filed a motion earlier this month to vacate a previous court order handed down by Judge Paul Mangieri, that said the State’s Attorney could hire a special prosecutor at an hourly rate since he was unable to “fulfill the duties of his office in attending to the prosecution of juveniles.”
The Board was alleging that State’s Attorney Pepmeyer was using Mangieri’s order to “extort” raises for his employees.
Judge Mangieri says that’s essentially irrelevant.
Mangieri said that matter is political in nature and only one point brought by the County Board could be taken up by him. That’s whether an emergency need for another prosecutor still exists now that murder trials in January and February are no longer taking up resources.
Mangieri said the Board misinterpreted his order allowing a special prosecutor, saying that the need for another prosecutor remains acute, as ASA’s Brian Kerr and Andrew Stuckart are handling almost twice the number of felony cases that the American Bar Association recommends.
CLICK HERE to read the full ruling (PDF).
