There is no question that the sheriff’s office is sending me fewer cases to prosecute. Normally I prosecute over 400 felonies a year, 446 in 2023 and 419 in 2024. During Mark Morgan’s first year in office it was only 277 in 2025. This year so far it is 61, yes, only 61. Many of these are from the Highway Patrol and some began in 2025. I can assure you crime is not down, just enforcement and a lack of supervision of the same. I believe the lack of cases is due to: fewer reports were taken; fewer arrests were made; fewer investigations were completed; fewer probable cause statements were submitted.
I strongly disagree with Mr. Morgan when he refers to weak plea deals. 90 percent of all criminal cases are resolved by plea and mine are anything but weak. Despite that number of plea deals, the courts remain backlogged. My plea deals are consistent with other local jurisdictions and based on firsthand knowledge of what the judges do and don’t do under the facts of each case.
I am also in disagreement with Mr. Morgan’s criticism regarding cases that were filed and later dismissed. I am not sure which cases he is referring to but at no time was there any wasted taxpayer money. My job is to charge upon probable cause and continue to trial once I believe I have proof beyond reasonable doubt.
As for the bar complaint, it was painfully obvious it was made by someone who doesn’t understand who I owe a duty to and who I do not. I do not owe the sheriff or his deputies the same duties I would to a client. My clients are the citizens of Maries County and I have violated no duties to them.
Mr. Morgan has clearly forgotten me telling him that Erican Sugg is a liability and should not be an officer of the law. Look at how many sexual claims have been made against him and then he allegedly assaults an elderly man over a vehicle on blocks being repaired. That is not the only complaint about Sugg’s use of excessive force either.
I don’t know what Morgan is talking about when he says I pressured Belle Marshal Coborn into writing a PC Statement on Sugg. The Marshal and I agreed on what needed to be done. He requested the charges willingly and I filed them willingly because it needed to be done.
As for the law enforcement restitution fund, I have made the most use of it that I can. Mr. Morgan sure likes to come around with his hand out to request money. I understand that he doesn’t understand. That is why I am the attorney and he is the sheriff. I know what I am doing even if he does not. We are making the most of this fund and it is all legal.
Tony Skouby
Editor’s Note: The Advocate’s policy is to ensure individuals have a reasonable opportunity to respond to election-related criticism before voters go to the polls. Because this election’s publication schedule differed from our usual timeline, leaving no opportunity for a response in a later edition, we published the sheriff’s letter and invited the prosecuting attorney candidate to respond in the same issue in the interest of both free speech and fairness.
