Alan Sorensen Havre Daily News asorensen@havredailynews.com
Havre is still without a city prosecutor, at least until next Monday night. “I’m in the negotiating process,” Mayor Bob Rice said Monday morning. “I hope to have a solution by Monday night.” The city has been without a prosecutor since July 1, after city prosecutor Tamara Barkus’ one-year contract with the city expired on June 30. Carl White, the lawyer the city thought had accepted the position, withdrew his name on July 16. In the original go-around, White bid $40,000 a year for the job and Barkus bid $51,600. Two other lawyers submitted much higher bids. The Havre City Council’s finance committee met twice early last week to find answers to questions they had about the process of selecting a city prosecutor and how to fill the position. On July 23, the committee met with longtime prosecutor Barkus to discuss her situation, committee chair Rick Pierson said Monday. “She said she would ask for $46,000 and wanted a two-year appointment,” Pierson said. “I took that to the mayor.” Judge Joyce Perszyk told the finance committee two weeks ago that state code requires the city to employ one lawyer whose primary function is to prosecute cases in city court. She said the city’s practice over the last six years of hiring a law firm to represent its civil legal services and putting out a separate contract for prosecutor was against code. At its regular meeting July 16, the city council approved a one-year, $40,000 deal with Bosch, Kuhr, Dugdale, Martin and Kaze Attorneys of Havre to handle the city’s civil legal business. Pierson said the committee met last Tuesday night with Jim Kaze, a partner in the firm handling the city’s civil business, to hear his opinion of the state code. “We don’t have a full-time city attorney,” Pierson said Kaze told the committee. “He said the city council can appoint a separate attorney” as prosecutor. “Yes, we need a prosecutor aboard,” Pierson said. “The council and mayor all know it has to be filled.” City court is in its fifth week of operating without a prosecutor, and Perszyk isn’t happy. She also is unhappy about having to wait another week. “It’s not fast enough,” she said this morning. “I have to dismiss the cases. I don’t have a prosecutor; can’t have a trial without a prosecutor. Most people understand that. There’s no excuse for this delay as far as I’m concerned.” Perszyk said she will still hold court as scheduled. “We will continue on until I have confirmation that we have a prosecutor hired, city attorney hired, whatever they’re going to do,” she sa
