In making their cases to Cody area voters on Friday, the two deputy prosecutors running for Park County Attorney emphasized different parts of the job.

Speaking at a Monday candidate forum hosted by the Cody Country Chamber of Commerce, Deputy County Attorney Marina Tucker of Cody focused on prosecuting crimes.

“I’m here because I believe in doing what I can to protect the community. I believe in law enforcement. I believe in prosecution measured with, you know, leniency in some cases,” Tucker said. “Realistically, not everybody needs to go to prison, but there are some people who do, and I am willing to do the work to make sure that we have that accountability here.”

Her opponent, Deputy County Attorney Ericka Smith of Powell, agreed that prosecuting crime is “a big deal,” but said it was also important to speak about the legal counsel that the county attorney’s office provides to county officials.

“There’s so much federal overreach trying to come in, and that’s not going to change,” Smith said. “But we have to put as much leverage behind the commissioners and everybody else that we can to support [them] when the federal bullies are here and want to talk about land, want to do different things with our resources that nobody in Park County needs them to do.”

The letter or spirit of the law?

Smith and Tucker only got about six minutes to address the audience at the forum, answering a pair of questions.

One asked whether the office should prioritize the spirit of the law or the strict letter of the law when the two are in tension.

Tucker emphasized the letter of the law.

“It is our job as a county attorney to look at what laws we have currently existing, to enforce those laws and not to add our own personal feelings or opinions onto those laws,” she said. “I think that’s especially important, just because we all have different views, different opinions.”

Smith was more ambivalent. 

She said she tends to prioritize the letter of the law, mentioning that she’s a “big believer in looking at the Constitution the way it’s written.”

However, Smith said there are times where the commissioners or other county staff must make a decision.

“You’re not always going to be able to say, ‘this is the hard and fast way to do it,’” she said.

While the county attorney can explain what the law says and encourage a constitutional way to do things, “I think everybody involved, at times, is going to have to think about how it impacts the community, maybe in ways that we wouldn't otherwise,” Smith said.

Prioritizing cases?

The candidates were also asked how they determine which criminal cases are prosecuted amid limited resources, but both Tucker and Smith indicate that’s not an issue in Park County.

“I think we’re very fortunate right now that we have the resources for every DUI, but we also have the resources when something horrible happens,” Smith said.

She said it’s “just not appropriate” to shelve cases for a lack of time.

While working as a Yellowstone County prosecutor in Billings, Tucker said she dealt with a much higher crime rate and much busier court dockets.

“I had a caseload of 800 cases at any given time when I was working there,” she said, “and the unfortunate reality there was that … not every case got the attention that I would want.”

In Park County, Tucker said she ends up devoting more time to more serious cases, but still has the time to deal with each one.

The two deputies, who each joined the office last year, are vying to replace retiring County Attorney Bryan Skoric. Tucker and Smith will face off in the Aug. 18 Republican primary election.