ELECTION 2018: Sanders County Attorney

Naomi Leisz is running unopposed for Sanders County Attorney.

1. What will be your top prioity as Sanders County Attorney?

Primarily, to work closely with Sanders County law enforcement agencies and to work hard at collaborating a mutual, respectful relationship with the Sheriff's Department. Moreover, to seek out the resources we have here in Sanders County and learn what resources are already available to assist the County Attorney's office in resolving cases. To learn more about the various agencies and resource groups in our State and County in order to gain a firm understanding of the various agencies, entities and resource groups already working and collaborating in Sanders County. For example, Western Montana Mental Health Center, Flathead Valley Chemical Dependency Clinic, Sanders County DUI Task Force, Montana Regional Violent Crime Task Force, Clark Fork Valley Hospital, the Local Advisory Council at Clark Fork Valley Hospital, etc. I believe having knowledge of the resources available and utilizing these resources gives prosecutors more flexibility in resolving cases in a manner which best serves the community and victims of crime.

2. What specific work experience has best prepared you for the job?

Probably owning and operating my own businesses for my entire career; 20-plus years. I've had experience managing employees, managing an office and organizing a substantial caseload in the private sector. For the past five years I have worked almost exclusively as chief legal counsel for several corporations based in Montana, Colorado, Arizona and North Dakota. Much of this work was drafting and negotiating contracts, resolving noard disputes, shareholder disputes, handling mergers and acquisitions, and resolving legal disputes within the corporate management arena. Prior to that, I worked (half of my caseload) for about 12 years as a contract attorney here in Sanders County for the Montana Office of the State Public Defender. Serving as defense counsel for the accused in misdemeanor and felony criminal cases, defense counsel for juvenile defendants, guardian ad litem appointments, and adversary counsel for parents in child abuse and neglect cases. I also handled criminal cases privately for the accused. More recently, (for the past year) I have been serving as the City Attorney for the City of Thompson Falls, prosecuting criminal cases through the city and serving as legal advisor on civil matters. All of this work experience will contribute to the foundation necessary to effectively handle this job.

3. How can the Sanders County Attorney's office help address the growing drug problem in Sanders County?

Although the county attorney office and the Sheriff Department are each independent county offices, they must work closely together to respond to and address crime. If either side cannot or are not able to do this, stagnation in the prosecution of crime occurs. The County Attorney Office should work together with law enforcement to put these serious drug cases together and prepare the case for prosecution. They must be actively involved in the investigations and review all of the evidence jointly, when necessary. Drug cases are difficult and the prosecutor must make a diligent effort to work with the police to resolve evidentiary problems. Exactly how a prosecutor approaches this effort is a matter of moral values and leadership.

This drug problem is probably more serious than most of us realize. It seems as soon as we have the fight against a certain drug epidemic under control, a new drug or new drug trend begins to rise rapidly. For example, the prescription opioid epidemic right now and more recently the synthetic cannabinoids on the market. Keeping our law enforcement and prosecutors educated about the latest trends is essential. The amount of information can be overwhelming and we need to seek the assistance of other professionals to assist navigating the evidence of these cases when necessary.

4. Looking ahead to the end of your term, what one significant change would you initiate?

Probably, a more systematic approach to the criminal cases. Again this ties into the first question. Utilizing the resources in our community. I am not so inclined to recommend "counseling" as I am to recommend "education" when it comes to sentencing recommendations. Providing our youth and defendants with information on how alcohol and drugs impact the brain, providing teens with education on how alcohol and drugs affect their own bodies, brains and mental health is more effective than telling Defendants to just "go to counseling." Education based on proven scientific facts gives people the power to make a choice should they be faced with criminal opportunity in the future. Especially for the misdemeanors in Sanders County, developing a trend for the prosecution and punishment of cases sets a standard and the community will eventually take note. This serves as a means to prevent crime in the first place. Much of the misdemeanor crime in Sanders is not prosecuted aggressively. There is not misdemeanor probation system, so it is very difficult to enforce accountability amongst these people. I mean there does need to be a balance of course, but in general, for the serious offenses, where there are victims involved, we need to develop a steadfast policy for prosecution and consequences.