The candidates for Bell County Commonwealth’s Attorney, Republican Mike Taylor and Democrat Jessie Moberg, met for a debate on Thursday evening at the Bell Theater hosted by Brian O’Brien and The Big One WRIL.

Both candidates are practicing attorneys in Middlesboro. Taylor has had a private law firm there for 36 years and during his introduction said he has been focused on helping people over that time.

“I do Social Security work, I do a lot of it. I do adoptions, I do criminal work, I do a little bit of everything. I try cases, that’s what a lawyer does and that’s what I want to do in this job,” Taylor said.

Moberg currently serves as the Middlesboro City Attorney and has operated her own private practice for the last eight years.

“I’ve had the privilege of representing many different individuals, families and businesses over the years,” she said. “The job of the Commonwealth’s Attorney is to prosecute felony crime and to protect children and families, to protect Bell County. Working with children and families is what I have done throughout my career from my time as a Foster care worker in social work protecting children who have been neglected and abused, to being appointed by both of our judges here in this county and trusted to represent the interests of children. I have been elected to the Middlesboro City Council, I currently serve as the Middlesboro City Attorney, and I am your former assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney.”

O’Brien asked both candidates the same 11 questions and they were each given two minutes to answer. If an opponent was mentioned, they were given one minute to respond.

The first question was “How are you going to assure the public you have their best interests in court?”

Taylor said the current system is broken within the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office and it has led to too many people being incarcerated in the Bell County Jail.

“Right now, today, there are 130 people in the Bell County Jail. There are 50 in Leslie County that are Bell County inmates and 35 in Clay County. That’s 85 people at 35 bucks a day coming out of your pocket as a Bell County taxpayer — 35 bucks a day everyday and that adds up,” he said. “It’s a tremendous burden on the county and its resources. That is something that we just cannot sustain. It’s not a matter of building a new jail. To build a new jail is rewarding bad behavior.

“What we need to do is get control over the problem that we’ve got and that problem is drug addiction. People that are addicted that have a medical or addiction problem are being treated as criminals. These are non-violent cases, with victimless crimes and they need to be treated differently. There are plenty of resources to deal with this, we just got done with drug court graduation this week — my daughter graduated drug court and I’m so proud of her.”

Moberg said the job of Commonwealth’s Attorney is not to be the Jailer.

“We have Robin Venable and he does a great job at that. Our job is to prosecute crime, not to worry about the number of people that are in jail,” she said and then attacked Taylor for not being financially responsible.

“He’s worried about the taxpayers’ dollars but he doesn’t even pay his own taxes. He didn’t pay his taxes on his home this year, they recently were sold. He’s filed bankruptcy, he’s overdrafted his campaign finance account nine times. That’s a law you have to follow in election finance and he can’t even follow the simplest things like that,” Moberg said. “Another thing that’s important in this job is to follow the law. He’s driven a vehicle throughout this campaign that has expired tags and registration, you can go outside of this theater this evening and see that. Does Bell County want to elect a Commonwealth’s Attorney that’s not financially responsible and can’t even follow the law himself?”

Taylor’s response was brief.

“It didn’t take long to get into the mud and that’s just fine. If that’s all you’ve got, it’s good enough. I didn’t get to mention that my wife and my kids are here. We’ve got 15 grandkids and I’m proud of my family,” he said.

Taylor reiterated that simply getting convictions should not be the measure of the job.

“That’s why we have the numbers that we’ve got. Last year $700,000 was spent by this county just to house Bell County inmates in other counties’ jails.,” he said.

Both candidates said they would work to try cases and without delaying them for long periods of time.

During his answer, Taylor said he had tried over 100 felony cases to a jury verdict while Moberg had never tried a single felony case in circuit court during her eight years as an attorney.

“She has no experience, she talks about having the experience (but) she has zero experience trying even one case in circuit court. She has sat next to another attorney who tried cases in circuit court, that’s not the same thing. It’s one thing to be a Commonwealth’s Attorney and actually be in charge of and try a case, it’s another thing to be an intern,” Taylor said. “That’s not what we need. That’s not what the job calls for, especially with 1,000 still on the docket — a years in the making, terrible mess, the worst in the state by far and perhaps in the country.”

Moberg took exception to being called an intern.

“During my time in that office, I’m the one he would call when wanted to negotiate cases. I’m the one he would call to continue a trial. I’m the one he would call when he would want discovery. So to say that I’m not a prosecutor and that I’ve never prosecuted a case is completely false,” Moberg said. “The Bell Circuit Court Clerk records show that in 33 years (Taylor) has only taken 24 cases to trial in Bell Circuit Court. Of those 24 cases he only won eight. Does Bell County want a Commonwealth’s Attorney who loses two-thirds of the time? The reality is that in the last 17 years he’s actually only tried four cases, so I’m the one who has relevant experience and who has been a prosecutor.”

Both candidates said they supported pretrial diversion and specialty courts such as drug court to help nonviolent offenders get back to being productive members of society.

The candidates were also asked about reducing the number of repeat offenders in Bell County.

“I think it’s important to stop crime before it ever happens. I will continue to partner with law enforcement and the schools to reach the youth and talk to children before they even have an opportunity to commit crime,” Moberg said. “Another thing that’s important with reducing repeat offenders is ensuring that violent offenders and those that commit the most serious crimes . . . go to prison and won’t have the opportunity to reoffend or commit additional crimes.”

Taylor said he would like to put as many people as possible in the drug court program.

“Drug court has a recidivism rate of 9%, no other program anywhere approaches that. That means it is 91% successful, that’s amazing,” he said. “Now for violent crimes, like Mrs. Moberg said, I agree. Violent crimes, sexual crimes, trafficking in drugs, those people need to go away and they need to go away for as long as possible.”

The next question was “If elected as Commonwealth’s Attorney, my strongest qualification will be my ____________.”

“My willingness to help people,” Taylor said. “That’s one of the things that I haven’t heard from my opponent or anybody else. That’s what this job is really all about and that’s what I’ve done for 36 years.”

“I would probably say there is more than one qualification, but one that sticks out to me is my hard work. There is nothing that  if I put my mind to that I will not accomplish,” Moberg said. “It’s something I was taught by my mom who is here tonight and my grandparents. They have instilled in me to always work hard and always give it your best.”

Both candidates stressed the importance of accountability in their office if they were elected and both pledged to make sure their staff kept all cases confidential.

They also both said back-room or under the table plea deals weren’t an issue in Bell County.

During her answer, Moberg said she would be extremely ethical in the position but accused Taylor of misleading the people of Bell County.

“For 44 years Mr. Taylor was a Democrat. He chaired the Bell County Democrat party, so he wasn’t just any Democrat in Bell County. He ran as a Democrat for an election and he lost,” she said. “The reality is that he didn’t actually change his political party until he filed to run for this office the first time, the first election that he lost. He changed from a Democrat to an Independent and then to a Republican to mislead this county. This job isn’t about politics, it’s about prosecuting crime in Bell County. Like I said I’m never going to ask anyone what their political party is, but I think it’s extremely important for all of Bell County to understand that he’s only changed his political party to essentially get a leg up in this election.”

Taylor responded by saying he is a Republican who is listening to the people.

“The vast majority of people in this county are Republicans that used to be Democrats. This used to be a heavily Democrat majority county, and 70% of the people in this county changed. They must have changed for a reason,” he said. “I was proud to be a Democrat for most of my life because I believed in what I thought the Democrat party stood for. That party doesn’t stand for what I believe and for what the vast majority of people in Bell County believe anymore. I’m not for defunding the police. I’m pro-life. I’m pro-adoption. I was adopted myself by my grandparents. These are the things I believe in and I’m proud of that. I don’t shy away from that one bit.”

Both candidates said they would be hard on those charged with trafficking drugs such as fentanyl, meth and carfentanil.

During her closing statement, Moberg asked voters not to vote simply based on party affiliation.

“You will decide whether you will vote for a new generation of leadership or you’ll vote for someone who has been a part of the system, what many have referred to on the campaign trail as the good ol’ boy system. You will decide if you will vote for a candidate who has been truthful with you throughout this campaign, or you will vote for someone who has misled you about his trial experience and his political background. You will decide if you will vote for someone who is going to be tough on crime or somebody who has told you he’s going to empty the jails. You will decide if you will vote for the person who has actually prosecuted crime or vote for the person who has defended those charged with crimes. I’m the candidate with the right kind of experience for this job. . . Bell County deserves a new generation of leadership and I am that person. That’s why I’m asking for your vote to be your next Commonwealth’s Attorney,” she said.

Taylor closed by saying he wanted to find solutions to the drug problem.

“This is not some hypothetical parlor trick for me, this is real and it’s personal. I have had the misfortune of burying my two younger brothers — both of them from drug overdoses. This is as real as it gets and this has got to stop. Treating people like garbage and just throwing them away, putting them on probation and then when they mess up one time saying we gave them the privilege of probation is a complete misunderstanding of our system and what our Commonwealth’s Attorney is supposed to be doing,” he said. “The job is to do justice, it is to help people. This isn’t about numbers, it’s not about conviction rates. I want to help every single person I can get past this terrible epidemic that destroys so many lives. We lost one last night. It’s still going on guys, this is real, and packing the jails full isn’t fixing things. I’m offering a solution to the problem, but you’ve got to first recognize that there is a problem. Then you can do something about it — and I ask for your vote.”