When voters across the county head to the polls on Tuesday, they will have a choice to make for the position of Crawford County Prosecutor.
The race for the Republican ticket for the position is between incumbent Matthew Crall and current Bucyrus city prosecutor and law director, Rob Ratliff. No candidate is running on the Democratic ticket.
“I enjoy serving the people of Crawford County and though we have made great strides since I took office in the fight against the drug epidemic, there is so much work to do,” said Crall.
Crall, who has worked as a prosecutor in several capacities for over a decade including for the city of Bucyrus and village of Crestline, said he is involved in all felony cases that his office prosecutes.
“I am always involved in each case, no matter who is actually in the courtroom,” said Crall.
Crall’s office staff includes attorneys Michael Wiener, Robert Kidd and Ryan Hoovler. “I added an attorney when I took office we are all full-time yet I have kept our expenses within budget.”
While Ratliff said if he is elected he will add an investigator to his team, Crall said he does not feel the need for one.
Crall said he helped form the county’s Special Response Team that handles drug-related investigations.
“We have collaborated with law enforcement and the courts to create the team in 2014,” Crall said.
Crall said his office budgets money to provide training for the team members that has led to a number of arrests throughout the county.
“In the last four years, my office has convicted more criminal cases than ever in the history of our county with,” Crall said. “In the past year, my office set a record for criminal felony indictments with 399 new cases.”
Ratliff, who said more needs to be done in drug investigations.
“We need a data base of witnesses and evidence. If a drug dealer has been selling for years, we should be able to charge them with multiple offenses, including trafficking, not a simple felony five possession, and the way to do that is to track evidence and statements,” Ratliff said.
Along with the race between Ratliff and Crall and the presidential primary candidates, local Republican voters will have to choose between include current Galion YMCA director Terry Gribble, former commissioner Mo Ressallat and Michael Schiefer for one Crawford County Commissioner position. The position will be left vacant by current commissioner Steve Reinhard as he runs for state representative for the 87th district against Wes Goodman and Tom Whiston in the Republican primary race.
In a second race for the position of commissioner that is currently held by Doug Weisenauer, Jeff Scheerer is running against Weisenauer in Tuesday’s primary election. The winner of that race will then run against Democratic candidate Dan Wirebaugh in November. The person elected will begin their four-year term as a county commissioner on Jan. 3, 2017.
The only local issue on the ballot whether or not Bucyrus city residents want Circle K, located at 405 N. Sandusky Ave., to hold a C-1 liquor license to sell beer from 11 a.m. to midnight on Sundays.
For more information about Tuesday’s ballot, visit https://sites.google.com/site/crawfordboe/home.
