Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
LONG LAKE- Lincoln County prosecutor Adam Walser first took his role in Jan. 2021, and now wants the position for a full-four year term.
Walser is running unopposed in this year's election.
He has been practicing law for 11 years and has worked in the Prosecutor's Office in 2016. Prior to that, he was a prosecuting attorney in the Marine Corps.
"Being a prosecuting attorney is a calling...I didn't anticipate doing it," Walser said. "In the Marines, I got pigeonholed into doing it and came to the conclusion this is what I was supposed to be doing."
Walser said he enjoys the different role a prosecutor plays over other lawyers and feels the role allows him to effectively serve the community.
"Attorneys are paid to win," Walser said. "Prosecuting attorneys aren't paid to be victorious. You're paid to seek justice."
One of Walser's priorities since taking over the office has been updating the office's case management system from purely pen and paper to a more modern, electronic way of doing things.
"It will improve efficiency," Walser said. "It also has a positive impact on our ability in communicating with victims."
Walser oversees all the attorneys within the prosecutor's office and makes decisions on whether to assign cases to those attorneys or take them on himself.
"I try to take cases I think are of a real unique importance on a factual basis to the county," Walser said. "If there's a push on a countywide ideological perspective with the specific facts."
Walser said he relishes the idea of taking a case to trial and thinks that influences his reputation as a prosecutor.
"I would like to think people think I'm a bit of a hammer," Walser said. "I like making an argument in front of a jury...I have a bias to taking things to trial, which results in a reputation of being harder."
If Walser and his office disagree with a court's decision, he said he weighs whether to file for an appeal or simply accept the outcome.
"There's a separation of powers between us, the judge and the defense," Walser said. "That's the best institution anyone has ever come up with, so we have to move forward. If we have to, we'll be okay with losing and continue to push forward. If we always win a case, the system isn't working."
Walser said he tries to never hold a difficult defense attorney against the client that attorney is representing.
"That's a hard thing to do, but we have to remind ourselves of that," Walser said.
He said the prosecutor's office has a difficult task of following laws passed by state legislation in the past two years while also seeking justice for criminal activity in the county.
"If the legislature passes something, that is the law," Walser said. "I try to help our deputies find alternative ways to do their job effectively while following the laws."
BIO
Office sought: Prosecutor
Age: 41
Hometown: Long Lake
Current city of residence: Long Lake
Family: Single, three children
Relevant experience: Lincoln County Prosecutor, Prosecuting Attorney in Marine Corps
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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