Buchanan County Prosecuting Attorney Ronald R. Holliday today announced the hiring of a criminal investigator for his office. Richard B. Wall, a retired St. Joseph Police Sergeant, began work on October 1st at the Buchanan County Prosecutor’s office.
“There has been a need for this position for quite some time and I began discussions with Chief Connally shortly after taking office in January. The reason I approached Chief Connally and suggested the collaboration is that, in my opinion, the position will benefit both of our departments. When prosecutors have cases heading to trial, we have to call upon the assistance of Police Detectives in the City to assist us with follow-up investigation and various tasks related to trial preparation. The Detective Division has always been very helpful in that regard. However, when that occurs, we are taking Detectives away from their current investigative assignments.”
“My hope is that many of the tasks related to last minute trial preparation, such as locating witnesses, taking follow-up statements from witnesses, serving subpoenas, creating exhibits, etc., can be handled in-house with our own criminal investigator. Chief Connally and I met on several occasions to discuss the plan, he agreed to the proposal and the City Council approved the expenditure with the current fiscal year budget.”
“The Chief and I jointly agreed on the hiring of Richard Wall for the position. He is an experienced police officer who retired in 2010. Richard then obtained a degree in nursing and worked in that field at Mosaic for several years. This medical experience will also be beneficial to my prosecutors who have to review medical records on a regular basis, and can now rely on his expertise to help with that task.”
Chief Connally added this statement:
“This is an opportunity for a partnership that will have a greater impact on outcomes related to crime.”
The position is the result of close collaboration between the Buchanan County Prosecutor, the St. Joseph Chief of Police Chris Connally, and the St. Joseph City Council. The position is funded equally by the City of St. Joseph and Buchanan County.