tends to get the same two questions about his job from the public.
“The first is, ‘Can you fix my (traffic) ticket?” he told the Rotary Club of Columbus on Tuesday at Lion Hills Center. “The answer is no.”
The second question he gets is much broader.
“What does the county prosecutor do?” he said.
Starks was appointed interim Lowndes County prosecutor in July to replace Steve Wallace, who passed away from cancer. Starks qualified for a November election to complete the remaining two years of Wallace’s term and was named the de-facto winner after no one filed to run against him.
As county prosecutor, he works primarily through justice court dealing with misdemeanor charges — ranging from traffic violations and DUIs to simple assault, domestic violence, even hunting and fishing violations. Those charges result in arrests by Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office or state agencies such as Highway Patrol or Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.
Starks also handles first appearances in justice court on felony charges that originate outside the Columbus city limits, before the case is passed off to the district attorney to present to a circuit court grand jury.
“The district attorney can request that I help him. He hasn’t asked me yet,” he said with an air of humor that elicited laughter from the audience. “I’m not begging him to either.”
Sometimes his cases go to trial, with one of three justice court judges deciding the verdict. Guilty verdicts can be appealed to county and ultimately circuit court. Very rarely do defendants request a jury trial in justice court, though Starks said it can happen.
More than anything, Starks said, he tries to work with defendants as much as possible.
“If you come in and you have four or five tickets on different things and there’s some grace we can extend, maybe we retire one or two of the charges and you plead guilty to three of them,” Starks said. “… That’s worked out a lot of times.”
Domestic violence cases tend to be the trickiest to deal with, he said.
“That’s the most difficult case I have,” Starks said. “Husband and wife get in a fight at home. It gets physical. Neighbors call the police. … Police show up. There’s a bruise on the man’s face or the lady’s face. They arrest the other party and bring them in. We get to court. Guess what I usually hear from the victim. ‘Nothing happened. It’s a misunderstanding.’
“Of course, they’re still living together, still married,” he added. “It’s a very complicated situation.”
For traffic tickets, he offered a few built-in remedies to mitigate the financial damage. A person who has not had a moving violation in three years can pay the fine and go to driving school. That way, the ticket won’t appear on the person’s driving record and affect insurance premiums.
Drivers under 21 who get a ticket can complete driving school without paying the fine, he said.
Starks emphasized there’s still only one way to “fix” a ticket.
“Don’t get one,” he said. “Drive the speed limit.”
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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