CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Former federal prosecutor Chuck Miller was appointed Monday afternoon by the Kanawha County Commission to be the county’s temporary prosecutor.
Miller will take over for elected-Kanawha County Prosecutor Mark Plants when he leaves office Thursday following months of controversy. A three-judge panel ruled Plants should be removed from office for not doing the job he was elected to do. Plants could no longer prosecute domestic violence cases because he faces two misdemeanor charges himself.
Miller, who has been serving as Plants’ chief of staff, said Monday he plans to turn the office around. He said he wants to raise morale after a tough six-month period.
“We’ve survived is the best way to describe it. Mark Plants has been under a microscope and there’s been a proceeding a day that had some potential impact on people in the office, not directly, but indirectly,” Miller said.
Right after he was sworn-in Monday, Miller had all of the assistant prosecutors sworn-in. He did it as a team building effort.
“Now, it may not be an earth-shaking development but it is something that I thought elevated at least to them the importance of what they are doing, because it is very important, rather than signing a piece of paper and having someone stamp it,” he said.
Miller’s appointment can be for no longer than 30 days but Miller has also made application to be the permanent replacement for Plants to fill the final two years of his term. The county commission has scheduled open interviews for Monday, Nov. 17. Miller wants the job and believes he’s the most qualified.
“I guess if there’s an edge I was in the United States Attorney’s Office for 27 years and for 24 years I was a supervisor or the United States Attorney,” he said.
There are currently four Republicans who have applied for the job including Miller, former assistant prosecutor Don Morris, Marty Wright and Chris Dodrill, who both work for the state Attorney General. The county commission must choose a Republican because Plants is a member of the GOP.