ST. JOSEPH, Mich. — Elected officials and residents in St. Joseph County are demanding the County Commissioners aid their efforts to get prosecutor John McDonough to resign.
A letter sent Monday details the issues presented with McDonough's leadership. Its publication comes after a May 11th arrest where he was allegedly drinking and driving.
“Those who are on that letter, and many many others that aren’t, have waited to let the dust settle so to speak. And waited for any kind of response or resolution. There really hasn’t been any,” State Representative Aaron Miller said.
Now, Miller says it's time McDonough resigns from his position, for more reasons than just the incident on May 11.
The letter claims McDonough doesn't fulfill his duties as a prosecutor for a number of reasons. Saying, he is not available to local law enforcement, regularly doesn't show up to work and also fires assistant prosecutors without cause.
“It’s time to call for the resignation. Not just because of the May 11 incident. But because of a large history before that,” Miller says.
The letter also claims there is a long back-log of criminal cases, and that it's McDonough's fault for not doing his job.
“There ought to be a high bar for somebody putting their name on a ballot, and signing up for an office, especially as important as a prosecutor in this county,” Miller said.
The prosecutor's office told FOX 17 on Monday they had no comment.
“I would have thought by now we would have seen some response from John, but we have not seen any response at this point. But I think that’s why the readiness, the willingness, to call for that at this point,” Miller said.
The letter will be presented at the commission meeting on Tuesday, July 21 via Zoom at 5pm.
