Proposed State Cuts Hit Home

As of Friday, April 15, 2011

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Do you think Moore County should have its own prosecutorial district?

Yes 70%
No 23%
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172 total votes.

A state budget proposal rolled out in the legislature last week, if adopted, would eliminate Moore County’s district attorney and close Samarkand Manor.

The proposal to cut prosecutorial districts back to the original 30 came as a shock to district attorneys and to legislators, including Moore County District Attorney Maureen Krueger and state Rep. Jamie Boles, a member of the House Appropriations Committee.

“It was a complete surprise to all the DAs,” Krueger said Thursday in a telephone interview. “It’s not been discussed with us in any way.”

Boles said he found out about the proposed cuts Wednesday when he had his first opportunity to examine the budget bill in detail.

District 19D was created in 2007 after local legislators lobbied for Moore County to have a district attorney of its own. Support focused on the local need to have greater accountability and improved efficiency in administration of the courts in Moore County, a large but basically rural community.

“It was a shocker,” Krueger said.

Krueger said her office has been inundated with calls from the public, fellow DAs and law-enforcement officials concerned about the proposal and, in particular, the way in which the restructuring is proposed.

If consolidation is needed because of budget concerns, there are better ways to realign the districts, Krueger said. Although the proposal provides only for the original 30 districts, it does not restore the original makeup of those districts.

Under the proposed bill, Moore County would be placed in a new district with Harnett, Johnston and Lee counties. Before the change in 2007, Moore County had been in a district with Randolph and Montgomery counties.

Krueger said the proposed consolidation does not make much sense because the judges serving Moore come from the Randolph-Montgomery district and 13 law enforcement agencies answer to the traditional district.

“I have a problem with the way they’re applying it,” she said. “We were not consulted.”

In addition, she said Moore County would really suffer with the proposed consolidation because of its largely rural nature.

District attorneys in rural counties serve in the courtroom and actually prosecute cases as well as administer the district, while DAs in more densely populated counties operate in a strictly administrative capacity.

Krueger said she covers all types of court when the need arises, such as when an assistant DA is ill or on vacation. If this proposed consolidation is enacted, she said the loss of the district attorney in some districts, such as Moore County, would mean the loss of a prosecuting attorney.

The loss of the DA is just one of several aspects of the budget that would affect Moore County.

Closure of Samarkand Youth Development Center would also be a blow to Boles, who worked vigorously to make sure the facility was not eliminated from the budget two years ago.

The youth center has a traditional tie to Moore County, and most of its employees live in this area.

Contact Florence Gilkeson at florence@thepilot.com.

More like this story

None 2 years, 1 month ago

"Boles said he found out about the proposed cuts Wednesday when he had his first opportunity to examine the budget bill in detai". Okay Jamie the taxpayers can understand that with looming budget cuts as a result of the TEA party victory last November all of this comes as a surprise to you. Now Washington TEA party elected puppets want to reduce federal spending by 4 trillion dollars. Would it come as no surprise to you and Blake that North Carolina will feel the brunt of the TEA Party Activists to "dumb down" America's educational system? HINT: Since you represent the people of Moore County and not just the TEA party, it may behoove you to spend some time learning what your role is in Raleigh as a Representative to all of the people in Moore county even those unemployed and without health care.

None 2 years, 1 month ago

Toda, I totally agree. Very well said.

None 2 years, 1 month ago

I don't know whose interests our county legislators represent but it is not the people of Moore County. There are repercussions for all this slash and burn. For this to come as a surprise is silly. Were they not there when this was proposed? Didn't they think Moore County would also feel the impact? If you sleep with dogs, don't be surprised if you wake up with fleas. It takes courage to fight for what is right as opposed to what is "popular" with the it crowd. I also don't understand how the legislature can set up a duel charter school system for which the state pays while cutting our public schools. To Maureen Krueger, welcome to the world of politics. Moore County's DA position has just been deemed as budget fat. For what it is worth, the public school system was also not consulted either. Neither was Samarkand Manor. This is what you get when budget cutting is done with a hatchet instead of scalpel by people who don't really understand what they are cutting. Jamie and Harris, wake up, we sent you to Raleigh to watch out for our interests here in Moore County, not just hang with the popular crowd.

MichaelFlorence 2 years, 1 month ago

First I like the Tea Party, but I am not a regular at any of their meetings.

To dump or State Budget mess off on the Tea Party is nothing but a joke. Just considering our State WHO had control of the Governor's office, the State House and State Senate over the past many, many years. Who knew that when a proposed (almost 22 Billion budget) over 3 years ago that State spending could get that out of control. Who took Federal Stimilus money to cover holes in our State Budget without any major looks at cutting back to 2006 - 2008 levels. First everyone needs to wakeup - Just looking at our State we are in a mess that we have known about for the past 3 to 4 years. Not the Governor can veto bills, but not when the spending was out of control. Do not forget the past as we look forward. I am not happy with the current direction of our State, but I know that if spending is not brought back down to at least 2006 levels then more reality will slap us in the face. Our State Budget has grown over the past 10 to 12 years from 12 billion dollars to our current level. Again I ask where was the Governor's VETO when the budget was growing faster and faster. We have to live within our means, and we cannot just tax our way out of this mess.

None 2 years, 1 month ago

"To dump or State Budget mess off on the Tea Party is nothing but a joke" then jokes on you. The TEA Party's objectives are to challenge POTUS'O on every decision and to circumvent health care for all American's. Do you have Blue Cross? Do you have Aetna? Most doctors and hospitals no longer accept Aetna, and those who have Blue Cross should take a careful look at the CEO's salary and the number of claims denied, the first step in a process to deny claims.

TEA party elected parrots who now hold Washington offices are expounding debt elimination of over 4 trillion dollars in one big swipe. Their budget bill passed the house today. What’s the Republicans next bill for health care: The Kevorkian Health Care Solutions?

Keep in mind both Bev Perdue and POSTUS'O hasn't been in office but two and a half years, but are taking credit for all of the mismanagement by previous administrators. There is enough blame to go around regardless which pork barrel you are fed from. How ironic most people think that Federal, State, and local money comes from different pockets...How naive!

None 2 years, 1 month ago

scotlass49 April 15, 2011 at 12:13 p.m. Take two of the wealthiest businesspersons in Moore County and I'll guess they represent the most affluent as opposed to the working class who live from pay check to pay check. They are totally out of touch with reality. That is why I will be running against Harris Blake!

None 2 years, 1 month ago

Go for it. Maybe someone can finally straighten out the mess of overspending on the wrong thing,like"pet" projects aka JAIL, for example. Put the JAIL in the backseat and Education out front. We are going to have to band together to fight for proper funding of Education is we are to have any kind of future. No matter what the political affiliation or what has gone on before, something does have to be done to stop runaway government spending. China and Russia are already trading with their own currency, and China is spending US dollars on assets and comodities to get rid of US dollars,. Some countries have stopped taking the US dollar, which is the foundation of the world banking/monetary system. As more and more jobs and factories have gone overseas, there's going to be less tax money going into the government. Sad to say but several states are on the edge of bankruptcy and ours may be next if something isn't done about it.

sandhillsdogs 2 years, 1 month ago

Our court is bad enough .. now if we get hooked on Lee and Harnett .. we will get nothing done here! Most cases will be dismissed as before done or take years to be tried when we were with Gates!