DATE: Sunday, April 20, 1997                TAG: 9704200062

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: ROANOKE                           LENGTH:  117 lines

VA. ATTORNEY GENERAL: TOP COP OR TOP LAWYER?DESPITE THE RHETORIC AND VOTERS' EXPECTATIONS, WE ARE ELECTING A LAWYER, NOT A CRIME FIGHTER.

Jerry Kilgore is such a law-and-order type that his bumper stickers use a pair of handcuffs where the ``g'' in his name should be.

Ken Stolle, the former oceanfront law man, says drugs are the biggest worry we face, then promises to kick some criminal you-know-what.

Gil Davis is a former federal prosecutor. He brags of having ``personally prosecuted more violent felons than all of the others combined.''

Mark Earley is a bit more reserved. He thinks honesty, professionalism and values matter the most - as long as they come with long prison sentences, no parole and automatic jail time for drunken drivers.

As these four Republicans elbow toward the party's June 10 primary for state attorney general, much of the race has become a battle of the tough guys. ``From street cop to Top Cop'' is one candidate's theme. ``A career prosecuting criminals, and fighting for us,'' brags another.

But while the candidates dispute matters like which one would give criminals the hardest whack, all four seem to agree on one point of public safety: Technically, no, the attorney general is not a crime fighter. People just expect him to be.

``Your function is to be a lawyer, responsible for state affairs. Not a cop,'' Davis said Friday, after a candidates' debate sponsored by the Virginia Federation of Republican Women. ``But everyone looks to the attorney general to enunciate strong public safety policy. You've got to give it to them.''

Said Stolle: ``I'll bet 95 percent of the people in here think the attorney general is a prosecutor. I could talk about the legal issues surrounding Colonial Downs' horse racing permit, but people don't want to hear it. That's lawyer stuff. Everywhere I go, people tell me they want the attorney general to make Virginia safe.''

The U.S. attorney general might be a ``top cop.'' She oversees the entire Department of Justice, prosecuting criminals who commit federal crimes. She manages federal law enforcement agencies like the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Marshals Service.

But Virginia's attorney general is a top lawyer. He doesn't control the state police - the secretary of public safety does. And he doesn't prosecute state crimes; the commonwealth's attorneys do.

Other state agencies have cops on staff: The Department of Natural Resources, the Bureau of Alcoholic Beverage Control, the Lottery Department. None of them is under control of the attorney general.

``The confusion is not unusual. But, in fact, the attorney general is not Virginia's chief law enforcement officer,'' said Tom Morris, a political scientist who is president of Emory & Henry College.

``He is the chief legal officer, who presides over a large law firm that handles many more civil cases than it does criminal cases.''

The Virginia attorney general's office employs some 175 lawyers and a support staff of 100. It is one of the largest law offices in the state.

Deputy attorneys general oversee specialties like civil law, education and social services, or intergovernmental affairs. The office's main function is to write legal opinions, answering questions like: Can Fairfax County ban weapons from recreation centers without breaking state law? And, how much of a bill can the governor veto?

The criminal division is one of six specialties within the office. It handles 12,000 cases a year, most of them from prison inmates suing the state.

That's not to say the state's elected lawyer doesn't dabble in the crime-fighting business. Whenever a conviction is appealed to the state Court of Appeals or Supreme Court, the attorney general's office argues against the criminal.

But throwing murderers, drug dealers or rapists behind bars? State law actually prohibits the attorney general from joining criminal trials. If you steal state property, make child pornography, pollute the environment or commit a few other specific offenses, the attorney general might hunt you down. But otherwise, he's no more a cop than those security guards at the mall.

``Criminal justice does seem to be everyone's focus,'' said Earley. ``But the last time I checked, the attorney general does not wear a uniform.''

Earley's campaign is slightly different than those of his opponents. He's a tough guy, like the rest. Certainly no friend of the lawbreaking citizenry. But crime fighting is not his central agenda. The traditional values of family and country are - a rekindling, he calls it, of the passion Americans once held for things like patriotism, the Bill of Rights and God.

Of course, kindling our fires is no more the statutory role of an attorney general than slamming prison doors.

But it's not out of line or a break in tradition, say Morris and other observers. The attorney general is largely a manager of other attorneys, and most go on to run for governor. So as long as the office is humming, attorneys general can sprinkle a little legacy around in their spare time.

``It's important to be a good attorney and to be a good adviser. It's much easier to advocate a position than to do what the attorney general does, which is to try to determine the correct course between two competing points of view,'' said Anthony Troy, a former interim attorney general.

``It's also important to have an agenda, though. It's an elected office and people look to it for some guidance.''

As one of only two full-time elected state officials in Virginia - the governor is the other - an attorney general has a built-in power to sway public policy to his or her liking.

Jim Gilmore's administration focused on crime - he headed the governor's commission to bring about juvenile justice reform and lobbied the legislature for the abolition of parole, for instance. Crime issues defined his tenure in office, Gilmore's gubernatorial campaign literature says.

But it was not part of his job description.

Each of the Republican candidates is planning a similar personal spin.

Earley sticks to character and conservative initiatives and values, with an emphasis on fighting crime.

``The people who fought us on parole abolition, on welfare reform, on juvenile justice reform, on parental notification (for minors seeking abortions), they have said they'll fight us in court,'' he said. ``I'll vigorously defend the progress we've made.''

And the priorities of the other three: Crime, crime and crime.

``Public safety is the No. 1 role of government, and every elected official has a duty to protect every citizen in the commonwealth,'' said Davis. He said he would seek more prosecutorial powers for attorneys general.

Said Stolle: ``I'm going to focus the spotlight and the power of that office on the No. 1 problem we face in Virginia - drugs in the hands of our children.''

And Kilgore: ``I want a more open, honest and fair Virginia, and I want a safer Virginia. It's about dealing with criminals the best way we know how - by punishing them. It's about giving us more punishment and more firepower in the war on drugs in Virginia.'' KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL

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