Valley County commissioners interview three candidates to fill departing prosecutor role

Valley County commissioners held an afternoon special session Sept. 2 to interview three finalists for the county prosecuting attorney position left open by Ryan Noggle, who has accepted a post with the Idaho Prosecuting Attorneys Association.

Brian Oakey, the county’s chief deputy prosecuting attorney, told commissioners he would seek to “continue to build upon the momentum that we’ve built over the last 4.5 years” if selected, keeping the office’s civil responsibilities while ensuring a “very capable” criminal division. Oakey said the office currently operates a rotating on-call schedule among four attorneys and that he would retain a robust civil practice while supervising administration, budgeting and staffing if elevated.

Oakey told the board the office must “always err on the side of being transparent” while balancing transparency with litigation risk, citing the Open Meetings Act as the baseline for public access to government business. He described victim services as a priority: Valley County’s office has a full-time victim/witness coordinator, a trained facility dog named Killian, and staff who work to keep victims informed and to pursue restitution or other remedies…