Hamilton County Prosecutor Melissa Powers Photo: Official portrait

When people think of prosecutors, they often imagine hard-nosed attorneys in courtrooms relentlessly pursuing justice. In reality, the role of the Hamilton County Prosecutor goes beyond simply seeking convictions.

Individuals in this role must not only be dedicated to prosecuting crimes, but also to supporting victims and creating safer communities. They must be committed to balancing compassion, law and accountability, working to reduce violent crime and restore a sense of security to those impacted by it. 

CityBeat spoke with incumbent Hamilton County Prosecutor Melissa Powers about her top priorities for improving the office, as well as her role in the highly publicized case involving Steve Raleigh and his family.

As she answered questions, Powers consistently emphasized the prosecutor’s primary responsibility: ensuring public safety for the well-being of the community.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

CityBeat: Why does this race matter to voters? Why should they care who the prosecutor is?
Melissa Powers: This race is important to the future of our county because public safety is on the ballot. You need experience to run this office. I want Cincinnati to be a safe place. I want not just my neighborhood safe, but everyone’s neighborhood safe.

CB: What are the top priorities that you want to push if you’re re-elected?
MP: Number one top priority is making sure that we take violent offenders off the streets. It could be repeat offenders, criminals that use guns to commit offenses, or anyone else that poses a threat to the public. You want to make sure that people understand everybody that lives here, that if you’re committing a violent crime, or if you are a repeat offender, you’re going to be a problem in our neighborhoods and on our streets. We want that message to be loud and clear.

The second piece is supporting initiatives that help people, whether they’re young or old. It could be juveniles, it could be adults – to get people out of the cycle of crime, and prevent crime in the future. You’re creating stronger communities by doing that, because those individuals become productive members of society.

CB: What improvements would you like to make in your office if you’re re-elected?
MP: I want to increase our victim advocates, for our office to go out into the community, to be working with the victims, and then to be able to follow up with them, even after the crime. I think after sentencing, the focus is just on the defendants. On this point, I want to fight and be more of a voice to address the trauma of victims.

I want to increase our transparency to the community. I think that that’s one way to make sure that people have confidence and faith in our justice system.

CB: To a lot of voters it can seem a little intimidating to have a prosecutor’s political affiliation out there when they’re handling these kinds of cases. How does your political affiliation influence your approach to prosecution, and how do you ensure that those decisions that you make as a prosecutor are made objectively?
MP: First of all, public safety is not a political issue. As far as me doing my job, my focus is to make sure, no matter who you are or where you live, that you’re safe. This office is basically the defense for everybody’s safety and security and has nothing to do with politics. And when you vote, if you’re thinking about your safety, it has nothing to do with politics. It’s who has the most experience, who knows what they’re doing, who understands the mission and role of the office. It has no business being in here when I make a decision, or anybody in this office makes a decision. Because all of us, every single attorney and myself included, take an oath to follow the law.

All I want to do is be able to work and have a good partnership with the sheriff. The same thing goes with the Cincinnati Police Department. It doesn’t matter what their politics are.

CB: I wanted to specifically ask about the recent case you stepped away from involving members of Steve Raleigh’s family and the Morrow family. How did you ensure transparency and accountability in a case?
MP: That was a case I learned about through Facebook, and that was like six weeks after the event. It occurred in the city and it was considered a misdemeanor. The city office handles misdemeanors. Our office does not handle city misdemeanors, so I had no jurisdiction to handle it at all. When they finally came and said it could have the potential of possibly being a felony, I then said that I can’t touch that case because of a conflict. So then I appointed a special prosecutor, but I had to wait for them to come to me. I had no involvement until that happened.

It was inappropriately attributed that my office would even be handling that case; that created a lot of problems. When it did [come to my office], I sent out a press release immediately. That was the right thing to do.

CityBeat reached out to Hamilton County Prosecutor candidate Connie Pillich’s campaign for an interview, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

This story is featured in CityBeat’s Oct. 30 print edition.

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This article appears in Oct 30 – Nov 12, 2024.