07/27/2022
ELECT
MICHAEL LIGONS
Madison County Prosecuting Attorney
AUGUST 2ND – REPUBLICAN PRIMARY ELECTION
Thank you for taking a few minutes of your time to read this. If you have any questions when you are done, please contact me and allow me to answer them for you.
For those of you who don’t already know, I’m married to Betty Ann (Cloninger) – she was raised here in Madison county and graduated from Fredericktown High School. We’ve been married for 30 years this year and for most of that time we lived where I grew up, in Carter County. During that 30 year period we have stayed pretty busy: we’ve been actively involved in raising four kids; we went to law school (I say “we” because Betty sacrificed a lot during that time, too); Betty was Public Administrator in Carter County and a court clerk; and for more than the last 23 years I have been a lawyer, prosecutor and judge. During that time we have always maintained contact with our friends and family here and moved here after I retired from being judge.
I filed for prosecutor because the citizens of our community should be able to trust the criminal justice system and know that it is working to protect them. I believe that I have the ability and experience to help and I want my campaign to be about what I will do that will make the Madison County criminal justice system a more trusted and valuable asset to our community.
If I’m elected:
1. I will aggressively prosecute violations of the law in order to hold criminals accountable and to make them responsible for the damage they have done to our community. While doing so, I will do my best to make sure that the system works fairly for both the victims of crime and the defendants. (I have been asked repeatedly about whether I will prosecute drug crimes and the answer is, “Yes.” My duty will be to prosecute all crimes and I will perform my duty.)
2. I will work closely with law enforcement to make sure that they have whatever they need from me to be able to do their job safely and effectively. In addition, I will work closely with law enforcement to make sure that they understand what I need from them in order to do my job effectively and in the manner that the citizens of Madison County deserve.
3. I will have an open door policy about every aspect of my job. I believe that government officials should answer directly to the people wherever and whenever possible. I will be open and honest about every decision that I make. If you have a question about why I’ve done what I’ve done, I will take the time to make sure you understand my reasoning. I’m ok if you don’t agree with me on any decision I make, but I’m not ok with you not understanding why I made it.
4. I will do my job efficiently and will be a good steward of public resources. I will not undertake any action that costs the tax payers money without first having considered whether there is a better, cheaper, and more efficient way to get it done.
My hope is that by working hard doing these four things every day I can be part of a criminal justice system of which we can all be proud.
I would appreciate your consideration and support on August 2nd.
Thank you.
You may contact me either here, [email protected], or 573.300.9092 if you have questions or comments.