This is part of a series of Q&As with candidates for local office in the Nov. 4 general election. This Q&A: Russell D. Hauge and Tina Robinson, candidates for Kitsap County prosecuting attorney.

The prosecuting attorney’s office prosecutes all felonies and misdemeanors in Kitsap County, advises and represents all of the county’s elected officials and departments, provides legal advice to all county law enforcement agencies, establishes and enforces child support obligations, and provides victim and witness assistance services.

According to the prosecutor’s website, www.kitsapgov.com/pros/, “We prosecute cases in the Superior and District courts and in the Municipal courts of Port Orchard, Poulsbo and Bainbridge Island. We determine what charge to file, when and where to file it, how best to obtain a conviction, and we recommend a punishment if the offender is convicted.”

The prosecuting attorney receives an annual salary of $156,353.60.

RUSSELL D. HAUGE
Residence: Bremerton
Occupation: Kitsap County prosecuting attorney
Education: B.A., University of Washington, 1980; J.D., University of Oregon, 1983.
Relevant experience: Kitsap County prosecuting attorney since Jan. 1, 1995; private practice focusing on criminal defense, tort litigation, commercial and environmental law, November 1984 to December 1994; internships at the Kitsap County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and the Lane County, Oregon, Public Defender’s Office, 1982-83.

Q: What are the top issues in this campaign?
Hauge: The top issues in this campaign are whether Kitsap County will maintain its leadership role in public safety and whether the Prosecutor’s Office will continue to provide first-rate civil legal services to its clients. Other counties look to us as the example for how well police, prosecutors, and the courts can work together. These exemplary partnerships rest on the trust built over years of working together successfully. We also save our clients millions of dollars by handling the majority of our legal work in-house. To hold what we’ve got will require experienced leadership.

Q: What are your priorities if elected?
Hauge: My priorities will continue to be public safety and sound civil legal advice and representation. Within those general priorities, my obligation is to identify the current challenges facing our community.

Right now, to maintain public safety we must address the issues presented by the growing population of mentally ill persons living in our community. These people are over-represented both as victims and offenders.

We will continue to face demands for public services outpacing revenue. As the lawyers for the county, we can help find ways to meet those demands creatively — that is, without relying on new taxes. For example, we have reorganized criminal pre-trial procedures to take less time on the court calendars. As a result, the Superior Court can handle more civil matters in a timely fashion without the need for more government resources. We will continue to look for this kind of efficiency.

Q: How would you accomplish those priorities?
Hauge: We are one of a number of partners responsible for public safety in our community. The sheriff, police chiefs, tribal, and federal law enforcement agencies all work together to meet this goal. So do our community-based victim advocates like the YWCA, the Kitsap Sexual Assault Center, and Mothers Against Drunk Drivers. We support all their operations and share leadership of the system. These partnerships have allowed us to meet challenges — like opiate addiction, sexual exploitation, and mental illness — progressively and effectively. We will continue to nurture and strengthen these partnerships.

To achieve our priorities, we need a workforce that is competent and committed to public service. One of my most important jobs is to recruit, train, and retain people dedicated to providing excellent service. We have a staff that is the envy of public, and private, law firms across the state. We need to maintain our standards.

Q: Regarding bipartisanship: Provide some examples of how you’ve worked cooperatively with someone of another political party to reach consensus or accomplish a goal.
Hauge: Every day I work with law enforcement leaders and elected officials of all political persuasions. Partisan politics have never been a factor in getting our work done.

The Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys has asked me to serve as chair of its legislative committee since 1997. I work with representatives and senators of both parties. They all consider me a public safety professional first. My job is to represent the interests of all the state’s prosecutors, both Republican and Democrat. In that role, I have led bi-partisan task forces that produced reforms in sex offender monitoring, adult drug sentencing, and juvenile dispositions.

Q: What experience do you have that makes you most qualified for the position you seek?
Hauge: Aside from the experience I have gained in almost 20 years as prosecutor, I have pursued the education and work experiences that would prepare me for this job. My undergraduate degree is in criminal justice studies. In law school, I took all available criminal law classes, served internships as both a prosecutor and a public defender, and worked as my university’s student conduct code prosecutor.

I started my legal career as a deputy in this prosecutor’s office. In 10 years of private practice, I represented a variety of criminal defendants, including taking appointments as a public defender in homicide cases. I also worked in the civil law fields that concern county government — things like tort defense, real estate matters, land use, and environmental regulation.

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TINA ROBINSON
Residence: Port Orchard
Occupation: Attorney
Education: BSBA, Management, Old Dominion University; JD, Seattle University School of Law
Relevant experience: Private sector management which includes managing multi-million dollar budgets, and supervising or responsibility for up to 50 employees. Attorney in Kitsap County working directly with the Prosecutor’s Office on a daily basis as a defense attorney for eight years.

Q: What are the top issues in this campaign?
Robinson: The main issue is whether new leadership is needed in this office — leadership with a focus on what is important to the citizens of Kitsap County. The office needs a leader who will address complaints concerning issues with the office, whether it be unresponsiveness to victims, a lack of concern for victims’ rights, unethical allegations against its attorneys and a number of other complaints.

While it is important that a leader stand behind and support her staff, that leader must also be willing to recognize and address failures of the office. A leader who ignores or brushes off complaints by stating that staff followed appropriate procedures erodes the confidence of the citizens in our prosecutor.

Q: What are your priorities if elected?
Robinson: In the Criminal Division, because I believe that more priority needs to given to crimes against our citizens, I want to focus more resources on the prosecution of those crimes. Policies concerning charging decisions, especially concerning crimes involving victims will be addressed. The FEPU — Felony Early Plea Unit — process will be addressed.

In the Civil Division, the backlog, especially around public disclosure, requests will be evaluated. I will also evaluate issues concerning litigation vs. resolution in civil cases. I will address those outstanding complaints concerning unresponsiveness, victim rights, and unethical allegations.

Q: How would you accomplish those priorities?   
Robinson: In the Criminal Division, my plan is to reallocate resources from FEPU to the general trial unit. Since 2010, 44-52 percent of cases that have been referred by law enforcement to the general unit have been declined for filing. These are crimes with victims and I want to have resources that can work the complex issues, especially of identity theft crimes.

Because dismantling the FEPU unit will have significant impact on both District and Superior courts, this is not an overnight event. I must work with both court systems to determine the appropriate way to transition from this process, but it must be accomplished.

Because I believe that property crimes against our citizens should be given more priority, I will work with the community in addressing our charging polices. The incumbent organized a team in 1995 and then worked with Leadership Kitsap to jointly identify priorities and develop policies. I agree that is a valuable way to accomplish the goal, ensuring they have all the information needed to address what the current reality of what really affects our citizens.

I will do a top-to-bottom review of the Civil Division that advises our elected/non-elected officials and department chiefs. I will accomplish an in-depth review of all positions and processes and set a system to measure the success of any changes. I will also set the tone for my expectation that all professional and support staff will treat everyone with respect, whether victims, witnesses, attorneys, judges, support, or any other citizen.

Q: Regarding bipartisanship: Provide some examples of how you’ve worked cooperatively with someone of another political party to reach consensus or accomplish a goal.
Robinson: While I have not worked in a political environment where partisan issues have been the “issue,” I have worked with persons with different opinions and political affiliations throughout my career. In fact, most of my peers in both health care and the legal community have different political opinions than I do. However, I routinely work successfully with them to reach a common goal. For example, people were surprised to know that I am Republican because I am a defense attorney. Defense attorneys tend to lean more Democrat. However, as a defense attorney I know that my role is to advocate for the defendant and the defendant’s rights, which is the goal of all defense attorneys, whether Democrat, Independent or Republican.

In addition, when working toward efficiencies in the ever-changing environment of health care, I was able to collaborate with others to address both the fiscal responsible solutions in a way that least impacted employees.

Q: What experience do you have that makes you most qualified for the position you seek?
Robinson: The elected prosecutor must be an attorney admitted to practice law in the State of Washington and in good standing with the Washington State Bar Association. In addition, the prosecutor must be a leader. I am an attorney admitted and in good standing with the WSBA. I have been working directly with the Kitsap County Prosecutor’s Office on a daily basis for eight years. I have an in-depth knowledge of the criminal justice system, which makes up about 90 percent of the work of the office.

I have proven leadership skills. In my last leadership role, I worked with Group Health Cooperative for eight years. The first position I held with the organization was in Referral Services, which is on the insurance side of the business. Prior to going to work in that role, my experience with insurance was in private specialty practice that I managed in which I filed claims with insurance companies. However, I was able to effectively lead in this role and work effectively with others in the organization, and outside the organization to achieve goals. I designed and implemented an organizational wide consolidation of seven Puget Sound referral offices, and when the work was completed, out of all the managers, I was chosen to lead the department.

I voluntarily transferred to a management role in Kitsap County in which I managed the business offices of two clinics, with 48 employees and a multi-million dollar budget. I successfully redesigned work processes in the organization to more efficiently and better meet customer needs. The design was implemented throughout the organization. As a leader, one does not need to know every detail about the work going in. One must be able to lead and set an example for those she is leading.