CONWAY -- Experience and politics are among the issues in the race for prosecuting attorney in Arkansas' 20th Judicial Circuit.
Chief deputy prosecutor Carol Crews, 36, and a former deputy prosecutor, Zach Throneberry, 31, both of Conway, are vying for the nonpartisan position in the general election. The circuit is made up of Faulkner, Searcy and Van Buren counties.
Prosecutors are paid an annual salary of $159,691.20 and serve four-year terms.
Crews, a deputy prosecutor for 11 years, views experience as the main issue.
"I have handled every type of case from juvenile court to property crimes to violent crimes to crimes against children, sexual assault and rape cases and homicides," she said.
"Voters should choose me because it matters to law enforcement and crime victims who the [prosecuting attorney] is. I am the only candidate in this race who has prosecuted rape and murder cases," Crews said.
"We simply cannot afford to trust our public safety to an inexperienced attorney who has little courtroom experience and has never prosecuted a major case," she said. "I have a proven track record of being tough on violent crime and crimes against children and getting great results in the courtroom on behalf of crime victims."
Throneberry, now a private attorney, was a deputy prosecutor in the Fort Smith-based 12th Judicial Circuit for three years.
He said he has handled a wide range of cases, including those involving drugs, sex offenses, theft, domestic violence and other violent crimes.
"I plan to take the politics out of the office and make it about the people once again," Throneberry said. "You will not need an appointment to see an attorney." He plans to establish a citizen's complaint desk "to ensure that office is accessible to everyone."
Crews said the office already has someone who accepts public complaints and said she's heard no one else complain about a lack of accessibility.
Throneberry also said the office seems to have "been a bit of a political springboard" in the recent past, with attorneys leaving it due to appointments to higher jobs or to run for elected positions. "It seems to be being used as a political stepping stone."
Neither candidate ruled out the possibility of ever seeking a higher office, though both said they do not plan to do so.
Crews said she intends "to be the elected prosecutor for a very long time, if not the rest of my career."
Throneberry called the prosecutor's position "a dream job for me since I was in college. This is where I have been working towards. ... This is the place I want to be for a long time, for the foreseeable future."
Crews said she intends "to be an elected prosecutor that maintains a caseload."
"I'll have my own cases, and I'll be in court just like I am now," she said. That's "the part I enjoy and the part I'm good at."
Throneberry said he doesn't deny that Crews has "been a deputy prosecutor longer than I," but added, "I think I have the leadership ability to do this job and do it well."
While it's "important to be a litigator," Throneberry said, "The elected prosecutor is more than just a litigator."
As prosecutor, Crews said, she will "take an aggressive stance on violent crime and crimes against children."
"I think my record proves that I've done that as a deputy prosecutor," she said, referring to a Faulkner County jury's recent decision to sentence convicted murderer Scotty Gardner to the death penalty. She said she also understands when someone should get "a second chance" in one of the judicial circuit's specialty courts such as drug or veterans' courts.
The election winner will succeed Luke Ferguson, who was appointed to fill the unexpired term of Cody Hiland, who is now the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas.
State Desk on 10/21/2018