By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – With 10 more days to go before starting his new job, Jonathan Meyer has already chosen a chief criminal deputy prosecutor and arranged for some other staffing changes.
Jonathan Meyer
Lewis County Prosecutor-elect Meyer said today he will promote Senior Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher to chief criminal deputy. The position has been vacant for some time.
Meagher has been handling several violent crime cases, including one in which two men are charged in August’s triple-homicide in the Salkum-Onalaska area.
Meyer also has also decided not to keep two of the 10 deputy prosecutors currently working in the office. Deputy Prosecutor Steve Scott and Lori Smith won’t be among those reappointed when Meyer steps in.
The Centralia defense attorney won November’s election with 67 percent of the vote. He will be sworn in Thursday morning.
“I’m just ready to get in there and get to work,” Meyer said today. “There’s a lot of things that need to get done.”
Since November, the 39-year-old has been wrapping up his cases at McConnell, Meyer and Associates. He had some 60 clients who are either being handed over to other lawyers or their cases are finished up.
His last day in the private practice is a week from tomorrow.
His first day at his new office will be on New Years Day, he said.
The transition period with outgoing Prosecutor Michael Golden, “Given the circumstances, it’s gone as well as can be expected, I guess,” Meyer said.
Meyer said he’s had conversations with the deputy prosecutors and some email exchanges with Golden. He hasn’t had access to any case files yet, he said.
“Had I hoped to be farther along? Probably,” he said. But it is what it is.
“That’s why I’m going to be in on the first.”
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This news story was corrected to reflect that Jonathan Meyer will be sworn in on Thursday morning and not Wednesday morning. My apologies for the error.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter