The Rowan County district attorney office will be consolidated with Cabarrus County, forming district 19A, with one district attorney in charge of prosecuting in both counties, as proposed in the draft budget that was unveiled Tuesday in the N.C. House of Representatives.
The two counties were a single prosecutorial district until 1994. Bill Kenerly, who retired last year, was elected to serve the two-county district in 1990 and had been the only chief prosecutor for the Rowan district until District Attorney Brandy Cook’s election in November.
If the provision, which also combines other prosecutorial districts, is approved, former Cabarrus assistant district attorney Cook would serve only one term before having to decide whether to run against her former boss, Cabarrus District Attorney Roxanne Vaneekhoven.
Other proposals include:
• Moving misdemeanor offenders to county jails;
• Reducing district attorney support staff;
• Eliminating magistrate positions;
• Reducing inmate cost by increasing sentence reduction credits.
Read more in Thursday’s Post.