County attorney candidates
promise they can do the job

By By Steve Gillespie / staff writer
Oct. 15, 2003
The workload for county attorney is often awesome even though the job technically is part-time.
And after six terms in office, incumbent Robert Compton said he is stepping down because he is losing money a move that has led to three people seeking the job in the Nov. 4 election.
Running for county attorney are Republican Justin Cobb, Democrat Gary B. Jones and independent Charlie Smith. The county attorney primarily serves as the prosecutor in Justice Court and earns $37, 343 a year.
Each candidate acknowledges the excessive caseloads for the county attorney an issue Compton brought before county supervisors earlier this year when he pushed for an assistant county attorney.
Jones, Smith and Cobb all say they are well prepared to tackle the job without help.
Candidates for the job
Jones, 51, is one of the county's four public defenders. Previously he was a youth court prosecutor.
He added that he is running because he has, "the experience, the knowledge and an interest in public service."
Smith, 51, has been practicing law for 25 years. For the past 19 years, he has worked for the county as youth court prosecutor.
Cobb, 29, has practiced law for two years.
Although his experience in law is considerably less than that of his opponents, Cobb said he, too, has something to offer the county with his service.
Heavy workload
Compton, 50, is finishing his sixth term as county attorney his first three as a Democrat and his last three as a Republican. He said he is not endorsing any of the candidates in the race.
Compton asked Lauderdale County supervisors in February to consider a resolution requesting the Legislature to let them hire an assistant county attorney.
Compton, who already had announced he would not seek re-election, presented supervisors with a petition in support of the request and signed by the Lauderdale County Justice Court clerk and judges.
Supervisors did not act on the request.
When Compton approached supervisors about the need for an assistant, he pointed out that he was not making the request for himself.
The new position, Compton said, could be funded with money collected by the court. He said collections would increase with two prosecutors because more cases could be heard. Presently, he said, most of the collections go into the county's general fund.