Smith shows his hand

The Des Moines Register was pretty tough on Sac County Attorney Ben Smith in a couple recent editorials for attempting to deny Tracey Richter a source of income while she serves a life sentence in prison for murdering Dustin Wehde in Early 13 years ago. The Register objected to Smith cleaning out Richter’s commissary and phone accounts as she owes the state more than $200,000 in court costs and victim restitution. Turns out, a Sac County District Court judge agreed with Smith and said that any funds — including more than $40,000 in back child support owed by former husband Michael Roberts — could be diverted by Smith and sent to Mona Wehde, Dustin’s mother.

Smith told us and The Register weeks ago that he was trying to cut off Richter’s phone account from prison because he believed she was using the phone for criminal purposes. The Register editorial writer displayed willful indifference to his guidance.

This week Smith filed a 120-page search warrant application in Sac County District Court detailing his theory of the case. The prosecutor says that Tracey Richter directed people on the outside of prison to get witnesses to change their testimony. Smith also claims that Richter directed the engagement of computer hackers to smear the reputations of witnesses and of Smith himself.

Smith is zealous about Tracey Richter. He has devoted much of his short law career trying to charge her and convict her of Wehde’s murder. Judging by the emails he has unearthed and phone conversations he monitored, Smith had every reason to be suspicious of what Richter is up to while behind bars.

[pullquote]Normally it is left to the Iowa Department of Corrections to manage phone and commissary accounts of prisoners. In this instance, Smith has a reasonable concern for public safety.[/pullquote] He has an obligation as county attorney to act on the facts, which he displayed in exhaustive fashion for the benefit of a Sac County magistrate who assented to a search warrant for the home of Tracey Richter’s mother, Anna Richter, in Urbandale.

No charges had been filed by Wednesday afternoon, but Smith said he is working on a criminal complaint.

It will be up to a district court judge to determine how matters proceed from here. If Smith’s concerns are unfounded, no doubt the court will direct the Department of Corrections to allow Tracey Richter to have full privileges. In the meantime, it is appropriate to control the prisoner’s behavior in the interest of public safety.

Tracey Richter was convicted by a jury after a fair trial, affirmed by the Iowa Court of Appeals. At this point, Smith deserves the benefit of the doubt. Smith’s zeal is needed to match Tracey Richter’s apparent malice.

A solid first step

Patience is a virtue, especially when considering school sharing agreements. It took Alta and Aurelia a decade to come to a whole-grade sharing agreement that is working extremely well. The Laurens-Marathon School Board has been wrestling with declining enrollment, budget shortfalls and a lack of participants in extra-curricular activities. It makes eminent sense for Laurens-Marathon to share with Pocahontas Area Community School District.

The L-M Board took the first step down that road recently by inquiring with Pocahontas about sharing volleyball. Once you cross that hurdle and it all works out, everything else becomes a cinch.

School district patrons should support the L-M board as it enters into what has to be a painful discussion. Nobody wants to lose their school’s identity. Aurelia is still Aurelia. The difference is that Alta and Aurelia students are served by a more comprehensive curriculum in better facilities than they would be on their own. The kids are Warriors; they don’t know or care about past rivalries.

Nothing is there to stop the inexorable population decline in isolated spots of rural Iowa. The Laurens-Marathon board is trying to deal with a certain reality.

The district’s budget problems will get straightened out over the next few years. The doors will not close. The problems will be there, as a reminder that the district must forge into new relationships for a new era in rural Iowa.

Sharing volleyball is a way for Laurens-Marathon to warm up to Pocahontas. A wider sharing agreement can be phased in as L-M budget problems are phased out.

It appears to us that the board has tried every which way it can to remain an independent school district. The board is running out of options as declining enrollment mounts and state budget guarantees fade. It deserves public support as it reaches out to form new friendships that could lead to something more lasting.