CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Kanawha County Prosecutor Mark Plants said Monday he won’t appeal a decision from a three-judge panel that removes him from office.
“My family and I have been attacked for almost a year and it gets to a point to where I’m just not going to subject my family to this any longer,” Plants told MetroNews Monday afternoon. “It’s in my family’s best interest to have some resolution.”
Things began to unravel for the two-term prosecutor earlier this year when he was charged with two misdemeanors, including allegedly violating a domestic violence protection order and domestic battery. Plants used a belt to discipline one of his sons. The belt left a bruise.
From that point, a judge ruled Plants’ office could no longer prosecute domestic-related cases. The Kanawha County Commission hired a special prosecutor that has cost the county thousands of dollars. A three-judge panel ruled last month Plants committed malfeasance by not being able to do the job he was elected to do. He had until Nov. 13 to appeal the ruling. He said Monday Nov. 13 would be his last day in office.
Plants, 37, said his six years as prosecutor’s in the state’s most populous county has had its ups and downs.
“We have done things things that no other prosecutor’s office has ever done. With that said, do I have personal failures in my personal life? Absolutely, I think we all do,” he said.
Plants got a divorce from his wife Allison. He later married his former secretary and now the couple has a young girl. He continues to deny the misdemeanor charges against him. He said he hopes they will eventually be dismissed after he completes a batterers intervention program in less than five months.
“In the domestic violence program, typically, people that attend these classes their charges are ultimately dismissed and that’s what I’m anticipating,” he said. Plants pointed out there are no guarantees however.
The former WVU football player and WVU College of Law graduate plans to begin his own law practice.
“I’m going to represent clients to the best of my ability who have been treated unfairly and unjustly, move to the private sector and hopefully make some money,” he said.
It’s possible a conviction on the misdemeanor crimes could bring discipline to Plants from the state Supreme Court, but that would appear less likely if the charges against him are eventually dismissed.
MetroNews asked Plants if he could have decided months ago that the situation was taking a toll on his family.
“Yes,” he said. “But also had I not fought against what I believed was wrong it could have turned out differently. I’ve fought long and hard based on principles I believe in but at some point it becomes counterproductive when you talk about what’s in the best interest of your family.”
The Kanawha County Commission is taking applications for the prosecutor’s job until Nov. 10. The commission plans open interviews Nov. 17.