MOUNT VERNON — Former Ohio Lieutenant Governor and U.S. Senator Michael DeWine met with Knox County Prosecutor John Thatcher Thursday afternoon as part of his tour of county prosecutors throughout the state. DeWine is the Republican candidate for Attorney General, held by Richard Cordray.
The purpose of DeWine’s tour was to get a feel for the concerns of county prosecutors around the state with what they needed from the state attorney general.
“I tell people the two best jobs I ever had were prosecutor and United States senator,” DeWine said. “I became prosecutor at (age) 29 and served one term and I just loved the job. And I want to go around and talk to prosecutors and get their ideas about where the attorney general can be of assistance. I look at the job of attorney general as one of not interfering with local prosecutors but how I can be of assistance.”
Not surprisingly, the discussion centered around law enforcement. One of Thatcher’s biggest concerns was with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification, the state wide forensics investigation unit.
“Maybe I shouldn’t say this but what Ohio needs is fewer lawyers and more forensic investigators,” he said.
Thatcher said the prosecutor’s job so often depends on work done by BCII and that’s what drives everything.
“It depends on how fast you get back drug reports, DNA testing takes a long time,” he said. “We’re told it can take up to a year to get back DNA tests.”