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Prosecuting attorney candidates split on cash bail; both endorse alternatives to pretrial incarceration
Summary
At a Saint Genevieve Herald forum, challenger Terry Sue Sheehan said cash bail unfairly detains poor people and urged home arrest and electronic monitoring; incumbent Wayne Williams stressed Missouri judges follow Supreme Court factors (flight risk, danger, preventative‑detention) and defended current judicial review processes.
Terry Sue Sheehan, a prosecuting‑attorney candidate and guardian ad litem, said cash bail often punishes poverty and recommended judges rely on flight‑risk and danger assessments rather than ability to pay. “I just don't think that's fair,” Sheehan said, urging wider use of home arrest and ankle monitoring instead of holding people pretrial.
Incumbent Ste. Genevieve County Prosecuting Attorney Wayne Williams said Missouri judges already use a mandated checklist — flight risk, danger to the community and whether a bond amount results in preventative detention — and noted defendants are entitled to automatic bond review within seven days of arrest. Williams said some serious offenses may still require high or cash‑only bonds but emphasized judges’ statutory guidance.
The exchange highlighted a contrast in emphasis: Sheehan foregrounded the racial and financial inequities of money bail and the human costs of pretrial detention, while Williams framed bail decisions as a function of judicial rules and case‑by‑case facts. Both said electronic monitoring is a tool that can reduce pretrial incarceration for low‑risk defendants.
The question drew no new formal policy from either candidate; both emphasized existing legal limits on local prosecutors and judges’ statutory responsibilities.
