County prosecutor says he won't seek third term

Adair County Prosecutor Mark Williams announced Friday that he will not run for a third term in the November general elections.

"My main motivations were that I really felt that, at this point in my time in the prosecutor's office, I've reached a lot of the goals that I've wanted to," Williams said. "I've also had opportunities presented to me that I want to take advantage of. I put all that together and I looked at what I've accomplished in the office. It was time for me to move on at this point."

Williams said his goals when entering office in 2002 included recovering the reputation of the prosecutor's office, more aggressive prosecution and accountability for offenders. He said he's confident the office has met all the goals, but he's met with some negativity from the community.

"I've had some negative feedback, which you expect as a prosecutor," he said. "If you do your job you are going to make enemies - there's no doubt about it. Sending anybody to prison or keeping someone in jail or to convict someone of a crime and take away certain rights we enjoy - you're going to make people mad."

Williams was Adair County's first full-time prosecutor and he said there is justification for continuing with a full-time prosecutor.

"Unfortunately we've had several murder cases," he said. "The state vs. James McFarland was three months into my term [and] was a murder case that we filed. Dealing with the Kirksville mayor [Debbie Masten] case, we've had a couple city councilmember cases, we've had a couple other murder cases we had to deal with - those are the main high profile cases.

"In the Jackie Gleason case we were one of the first, if not the first, prosecutor's office in the state that had to deal with the new castle laws that the legislator passes and what those meant and how you interpret those and how they apply to this case. We've had our fair share of high profile cases."

Kristin Coffman, assistant Adair County prosecutor, said she respects Williams and thinks he is the best prosecutor Adair County has seen.

"[It's him] not being afraid to send people to prison, to push for prison on those cases that it's necessary and to give people a chance when they deserve one," Coffman said. "He's made the office a lot more respectable than under previous prosecutorial administration."

Coffman said she doesn't plan to run for the position.