Champaign County
Job Description

Job Title: Lead Prosecutor
Department: State's Attorney
Reports To: State's Attorney
FLSA Status: Exempt
Grade Range: L
Prepared Date: August, 2009

SUMMARY Provides legal expertise, guidance in procedural handling, and prosecutes complex cases in the State's Attorney's Office. Provides training and direction to less experienced attorneys. May support a specific jurisdictional area or prosecute specific types of crime.

PRIMARY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following. Other duties may be assigned.

Serves as a senior member of the legal staff and is responsible for general criminal prosecutions. Performs legal functions related to the investigation and prosecution of felony, misdemeanor, juvenile delinquency, conservation and other types of cases.

May serve as legal advisor for the County Board, County Board Committees, County Administration, Board Chairman and all Elected Officials and Department Heads.

Reviews police reports and determines criminal charges for arrest and non-arrest cases daily, secures additional information from law enforcement personnel when required. Prepares felony cases for Grand Jury indictment, presents orientation to Grand Jury on a quarterly basis, presents cases to Grand Jury on a bi-weekly schedule, and schedules trials.

Formulates trial strategy, determines sentence sought, conducts plea negotiations, investigates case data and researches applicable case law.

Secures and interviews witnesses to ascertain facts of case. Secures expert testimony, prepares witnesses for trial, assembles case files, attends pre-trial hearings and files or responds to pre-trial motions.

Communicates information on case status to all involved parties such as defense attorneys, police officials and victims.

Prepares and responds to post-trial motions and represents the County at sentencing hearings.

May be responsible for specific types of crime prosecution such as illegal drug use or child abuse and/or neglect, or violent crimes relating to the use of firearms. Performs legal functions related to the investigation.

May be responsible for maintaining LEADS certification and running criminal history checks prior to criminal case charging.

May be responsible for reviewing new cases and assigning the reports for charging to other attorneys assigned to charging tasks.

May be responsible for working with JANO and local representatives on the Court's computer integration project, including drafting information and indictment forms, forms relating to project description and forms for general office use.

May screen and assign cases for juvenile court and determine need for protective custody. Files petitions for termination of parental rights, litigates cases of child molestation and confers with various professionals and social agency staff on issues of abuse and/or neglect.

May determine if child victims are able to provide testimony and prepares witnesses for court. Works with social service staff on initiating or terminating parental custody, prosecution of neglect areas and allowance for adoption procedures.

May present talks at workshops and conferences regarding child abuse laws and measures of abuse prevention.

Attends seminars on Local, State and National level to secure continuing education in specialized areas of the law.

Provides training, legal instruction and research assistance to less experienced attorneys.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES Directly supervises 4 to 8 employees depending upon the project or the case, including Senior Assistant State's Attorneys, Assistant State's Attorneys, Paralegals, Investigators, Administrative Assistants, Victim Services Coordinators, Counselors, law students and clerical staff. Carries out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the County's policies and applicable laws. Responsibilities include training employees; planning, assigning, and directing work; appraising work performed and resolving problems.

QUALIFICATIONS To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each primary duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE Law degree and licensed in Illinois with 3-5 years of experience dealing with serious crimes.

LANGUAGE SKILLS Ability to read, analyze, and interpret legal documents and interpretations, technical journals and financial data. Ability to respond to common inquiries or complaints from the general public, social service and government agencies, judges and other attorneys. Ability to write speeches and articles using original or innovative techniques or style. Ability to make effective and persuasive speeches and presentations on controversial or complex topics to judges, public groups and other attorneys.

MATHEMATICAL SKILLS Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts, interest, commissions, proportions, percentages, area, circumference, and volume.

REASONING ABILITY Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions. Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagram form and deal with several abstract and concrete variables.

CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS Licensed in Illinois.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the primary functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; and talk; or hear. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 35 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision and color vision.

WORK ENVIRONMENT The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the primary functions of this job. Normal office conditions. Potential problems may exist with clients or defendants exposed to stressful situations. The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet to moderate.