Scott County attorney outlines prosecutions workload, ordinance enforcement challenges

Scott County Attorney Ron Holsovar briefed the New Prague City Council on the county attorney’s office caseload, enforcement priorities and the practical limits of ordinance prosecutions.

Holsovar told the council his office has roughly 22 attorneys and a range of support staff; he described programs run from the office, including a drug- and alcohol-prevention program and scholarships for students affected by chemical dependency. He said the office has focused more on ordinance enforcement in the past year and assigned a lead attorney to assist cities with code issues.

Holsovar said judges and court procedures sometimes blunt the consequences of ordinance enforcement because defendants can repeatedly seek continuances at arraignment and judges may treat early presentations as first encounters. "They're not the first stop," he said of judges; "they're probably the seventh or eighth stop." He encouraged cities to continue ticketing and building records so the county attorney's office can press cases in court.

On criminal prosecutions, Holsovar said case filings have been relatively static but that discovery demands have grown substantially because of body cameras and digital evidence, making even routine domestic and DUI cases more time- and cost-intensive to prepare.

Holsovar closed by saying the office would continue outreach and collaboration with New Prague staff and nearby prosecutors to improve ordinance outcomes and court buy-in. He invited council questions and said the county remains available for additional information.