New Deputy City Attorney To Manage Cases

FARMINGTON — Farmington City Council recently created a new deputy city attorney position in response to an increase in the number of cases going through the city’s District Court.

Jay Moore, who lives in Farmington, has served as city prosecuting attorney since January. City Attorney Steve Tennant appointed Moore as the new deputy city attorney.

Moore is an attorney with Parker Law Firm in Fayetteville. He served as a Benton County felony prosecuting attorney from 2005-2008. He also is a member of Farmington Planning Commission.

The Council approved an ordinance at its July meeting to create the new position with an annual salary of $18,000. The new position became effective Aug. 1.

The ordinance says the new position is necessary because of the increase in criminal prosecutions in the Farmington Department of Washington County District Court.

When comparing cases filed in District Court for January-July for the past three years, the number of filings has increased 155 percent from 2016 to 2018, according to figures from Chief Court Clerk Kim Bentley.

The city had a total of 550 violations filed for January-July in 2016. This increased by 52 percent to 836 cases for the same period in 2017. It increased another 68 percent to 1,402 cases for the same period in 2018.

Through July 31, 2017, violations filed in Farmington’s District Court include 546 criminal cases, 27 DWIs, 64 juvenile cases, 240 violations of city ordinances and 525 traffic cases.

“Prosecuting cases is taking up quite a bit of time,” Tennant told City Council members when recommending the new position.

Farmington has two court days each month. The second Wednesday of the month is for arraignments and the third Wednesday of the month is used for trials.

Bentley said the courtroom is packed on arraignment days.

“There’s not enough seats available,” Bentley told Council members at their July meeting.

Tennant said the court is considering a change to have arraignments and trials on both days.

Moore last week said most defendants will plead not guilty at their arraignment. Defendants then will come to him to either work out a plea bargain arrangement, or if an arrangement cannot be reached, then a trial date will be set.

Most cases are settled. Moore

said he’s had about one trial per month since January and usually those are DWI cases.

Moore said he believes the number of cases has increased because of the growth in the city and because Farmington Police Department has new officers who are being more aggressive in enforcing the laws.

“We want Farmington to be a safe place for everyone, especially the locals,” Moore said.

Monthly reports issued by the Farmington Police Department show that the number of offenses recorded has increased over the past few years. An offense can be an arrest, a call from the public about a possible crime or a complaint call.

For 2016, the department reported a total of 679 offenses. These include traffic violations, violations of city ordinances and offenses such as DWI, battery, theft, criminal mischief, burglary and arrests on outstanding warrants.

In 2017, the total increased to 820 offenses.

Through July 30, officers have reported 723 offenses, already bypassing the total for 2016.

The totals do not include times that officers respond to a call for service and the complaint or call does not result in a report or ticket.

Another police report shows the number of tickets issued by the department and individual officers each month. For 2016, Farmington gave out 1,689 tickets or citations for the year. This increased to 3,073 tickets in 2017. Through July 30, the department has issued 1,916 tickets.

In 2016, officers Geoffrey Kimball and John Collins gave out the most tickets for the year. Kimball, who is no longer with Farmington, issued 356 tickets and Collins, now a detective, issued 353 tickets.

For 2017 and 2018, officer Taron Mahone has issued by far the most tickets, compared to other officers. In 2017, Mahone issued 840 tickets. Officer James Brotherton was next with 395 tickets.

Through July 30, Mahone has issued 737 tickets. Officer Justin Collins has issued the second most, 371 tickets.

The total number of tickets issued by officers includes citations, warnings or just a personal contact with a person.

Capt. Mike Wilbanks said cases have gone up and more tickets are being issued because the “guys are working hard.”

He attibutes the increase to officers patrolling the streets and being proactive. Like Moore, Wilbanks pointed out traffic has increased with the growth of Farmington and communities to the west of town.

Farmington has 13 total officers and nine patrol the streets.

In addition to prosecuting criminal misdemeanors and violations of city ordinances, the deputy city attorney will prosecute abatement and nuisance actions on behalf of the city, attend Council meetings when requested and research and prepare memos, ordinances and resolutions. The position also requires the deputy city attorney to assist the city attorney as needed for other issues.

Moore

Tennant