New job, new black sneakers?
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By Loretta Park
Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau
lpark@standard.net
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strong>County attorney makes goals, steps into heavier duties
FARMINGTON -- The new Davis County attorney plans to make his office more efficient, interact with the community more and work on legislation to protect children. However, he doesn't plan to give up his signature black sneakers any time soon.
"But I couldn't find them this morning," Troy Rawlings said as he zipped up a gray hoodie over his white button-down shirt -- minus a tie -- before heading to a meeting at the Davis County Children's Justice Center on Wednesday.
"I think my wife hid them," said the father of four.
Rawlings generally wears solid black sneakers, unless he is prosecuting a case in court. Then he slips into dress shoes.
Rawlings, 41, took the oath of office Tuesday, moments before his father, Steve Rawlings, was sworn in for his third four-year term as Davis County clerk/auditor.
Troy Rawlings, who has been a prosecutor for seven years, is serving his first term as the county attorney.
Jenell Rawlings, his mother, said she was "nervous and excited" for her husband and her oldest son Tuesday morning, but she said she knows they will do a good job in their respective positions.
"They are two people who will tell you the way it really is," Jenell Rawlings said.
Lisa Rawlings, Troy's wife, said he didn't want to attend the ceremony on Tuesday because "he had so much to do. He just wants to get to work."
Wednesday found Troy Rawlings sitting behind the desk in the office that just last week belonged to Mel Wilson.
Wilson served five terms as county attorney, but he decided before the Republican convention in April not to run again.
The telephone in the office wasn't working properly, and Troy Rawlings' computer had limited capabilities. A folder, 6-inches thick, held notes of the projects he has been planning since he filed for office.
There was also a pink legal pad and white computer paper with a list of ideas jotted down on them.
Political suicide?
Some are "pie in the sky" dreams, while others are "just plain political suicide, but I want to do them because they're good for this office and good for the community," Troy Rawlings said.
He said he plans to wear two hats, one as an administrator and the other as a prosecutor.
That includes covering central arraignment court calendars when defendants make their first appearance, in order to free up time for his prosecutors to work on other cases.
He also said he wants to continue prosecuting sexual and physical abuse cases of children until another attorney in the office is trained to cover those cases, instead of hiring an experienced attorney.
The reason, he said, is to bring up the salaries of entry-level attorneys to match surrounding areas. If the county hired an experienced attorney to take his place, it would have to pay more than for an entry-level attorney.
A survey conducted by the state attorney general's office showed that Davis County pays entry-level attorneys significantly less than other counties, he said.
"The County Commission has given us enough money to do what I want to do," Troy Rawlings said.
He said he also plans to still do some of the grunt work. He will take his turn on call, like the other attorneys in his office, to sign warrants or answer phone calls from police officers.
"Mel (Wilson) may have been smarter," Troy Rawlings said. "He didn't do that."
By staying active and prosecuting cases, he said, he could be looking at only one term in office "because every once in awhile, I'm going to lose cases or I will negotiate a case and won't be able to explain all the reasons why to the public."
Wants CSI funding
Troy Rawlings said one thing he hopes to find money for is a good crime scene investigation unit for the county.
Because of television shows, juries across the country are expecting more physical evidence in the courtroom than they are getting, Rawlings said.
Not all police agencies have CSI units, he said. The sheriff's office takes up the slack and the officers are some of the best, he said.
"But they're swamped," he said.
Other projects he is looking at include organizing a citizens academy so residents can understand how prosecutors work, creating a citizens committee that will generate ideas on how to solve some problems in the community and finding better ways to prosecute child abuse and child sex abuse cases, especially those involving the Internet and pornography.
Domestic violence cases are also high on his radar screen, he said.
Rawlings said he plans to continue improving the victim advocate program, which Wilson started years ago.
Add Your Comment
While I know nothing other than what I have read about this man, is it really fair to judge him based solely on his alleged past? We are here in this life to learn, change and hopefully grow. I can think of no better opportunity to do one's best to grow than by selflessly leading their community to greener pastures through its legal system, especially when said legal system is needing to learn and grow itself.
Please remember that none of us are perfect; nor have all of us got perfect pasts. I am a woman and can tell you that I hate nothing more than pornographic material--including strip clubs--having come from my first marriage with an inordinate amount of "gun-shy"-ness based solely upon the fact that my ex-husband had performed unmentionable acts due to his insatiable appetite for the sexually explicit. As I'm sure you must know, it has been well documented and proven that most ferocious domestic abuse crimes are perpetrated by those who also happen to "frequent" pornographic websites, strip clubs, cable channels and shows, magazines, etc.
Thus, what I'm attempting to bring to light here is that nobody hates this kind of barbaric obsession with sexuality more than I do; moreover, one could also easily accuse me of even being especially skeptical of men in general. I have watched helplessly as friends, family--yes, even my own biological father, God help him--have been completely ensnared by pornography and the awful desolate waste it leaves in the lives of all who either go near it or are forced to watch their loved ones do so. However, I truly believe that people can change, even though some people close to me in the past have not.
I can tell you that there can be no greater loathing for another human being (my ex-husband, for example) than when they have hurt your own child and continue to do so despite every legal and other attempt to stop him. I can't say that I am able to tolerate this person and what he does to our daughter, to my current husband (by the way, God's gift to me when all seemed everything short of completely hopeless) and to our little son. My ex-husband continues to be a major force to contend with for the entire whole of my support group, my family and friends.
All that being said, I will not judge this lawyer you are so quick to call a "hypocrite." Even if what you say was true, (which I seriously avoid making a guess on without much, much more than hearsay,) still, that was then and this is now. Have you been there watching every step of this person's life? Did you consider that he may be so passionate about his work as a result of his own alleged past and--if it IS truly his past--his obviously penitent acts for it? He is a lawyer interested in fighting domestic violence, remember, and he could one day easily be the only person who ends up legally saving YOUR child or that of someone YOU love.
Just food for thought; thanks for listening if you happen by.