TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Mike Jette said he has been a community activist in Southern Arizona for years. He has been on the board for Tucson Clean And Beautiful and the Tucson Museum of Art and has also been a coach for the Special Olympics among other things.
“People always talk about the career part, but I’ve been a community activist,” he sad.
He said he was chosen by the Department of Justice to set up prosecution offices abroad and also worked at the U.S. Attorney’s Office before deciding to run.
“I’ve been gone for nearly two and half years setting up offices in Pakistan, working on gender-based violence cases, terrorism,” he said.
He has a three part view on the cash bail bonds system. The first involves people who are dangerous and violent who should never get a bond.
“They stay in custody pending the outcome of their trial or however they’re adjudicated,” he explained about his ideas if he were to be elected.
His second category would be people in custody because of non-violent misdemeanors who he said should not be in custody.
“You want them back supporting their families and you can summons them in or bring them in for the court hearing. There’s no threat to the community,” he said.
If elected he said he would tell his attorneys to agree with release conditions and would appeal to a superior court judge if there’s an issue with the initial appearance.
The third category he would make is for people who commit white collar crime who he said should have a bond.
“They have to pay into the system because we don’t know if they’re going to flee on you because they have the resources to flee,” he said.
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If elected, he said 99 percent of cases would have no bonds.
Jette said he does not believe in the death penalty and said his administration would never seek it because it’s too expensive.
“The amount of money we spend seeking the death penalty where I could focus on other homicides, other sexual assaults, other burglaries,” he said.
As for sentences fitting the crime, Jette said there shouldn’t be overcharging or over sentencing. In drug possession or use cases he said a diversion program is fitting.
“The victims need to have their voices heard too so if you ignore that because you’re so focused on these defendants, you’re avoiding the other piece of this equation,” he said.
Sheriff Chris Nanos said the Pima County Jail is aging and the county needs a new one. Jette said there needs to be a new study before proceeding with it.
“For me, everyone needs to be treated fairly and safely in those jails, including the inmates and the workers,” Jette said.
Jette said it’s his experiences prosecuting cases that he hopes is going to win over voters.
“We learn through the small cases, the medium cases, the more severe cases and then your ultimate severe cases of homicide and sex assault. So you learn how to adjudicate these causes justly and there’s a fair treatment among defendants across the spectrum,” he said.
Current Pima County Attorney Laura Conover is his opponent and you can find her profile below. Republicans did not run in this race.
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Andrew Christiansen is a reporter for KGUN 9. Before joining the team, Andrew reported in Corpus Christi, Texas for KRIS6 News, Action 10 News and guest reported in Spanish for Telemundo Corpus Christi. Share your story ideas with Andrew by emailing andrew.christiansen@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
