Amy Fite is single-minded in her mission in Christian County: to seek and serve justice.
The county’s prosecuting attorney takes that mindset to work each day, whether she’s targeting sex offenders, narcotics users or traffic violators.
“With every action and decision, there is a tremendous opportunity to shape how the community views the criminal justice system,” Fite says. “I want my actions to speak consistency and fairness.”
It’s not a task for the faint of heart.
After graduating from Saint Louis School of Law, Fite took a job in 1997 as the narcotics attorney in Christian County, prosecuting a caseload of mainly methamphetamine cases. Later, in St. Louis’ circuit attorney’s office, she participated in over 100 jury trials, successfully convicting murderers, robbers and rapists. Returning to the Ozarks in 2008, Fite supervised seven attorneys in Greene County’s general crimes unit that handled prosecutions of property burglaries, white-collar crimes and DWIs.
In January 2011, Fite moved into her first elected position. Nearing the end of her first term as Christian County prosecuting attorney, succeeding Ron Cleek, she says the office has met a few key goals, namely converting to a paperless system and becoming a no-refusal county.
“Now, obtaining search warrants for a blood draw from a suspect of a DWI are routinely sent all electronically between the officer, prosecutor and judge for review,” Fite says.
She also implemented vertical prosecution – in which the same prosecutor handles all matters in a case – and restructured how cases move through the office.
“The three members of a team are involved with the case from beginning to end,” she says. “The case isn’t treated like an assembly line going through multiples hands for an action and getting passed on. It belongs to a team that is responsible, accountable and vested.”
Working on behalf of victims, especially children, Fite trains hundreds of prosecutors and allied professionals, in part, through her role with Child Advocacy Center’s Child First program for forensic interviewers, social service workers and juvenile officers.
“I teach hearsay and testifying in court,” says Fite, who also taught three sessions at last year’s Family and Sexual Violence Conference.
In 2012, she persuaded Christian County commissioners to recognize April as Crime Victim’s Rights Month, and she continues to lead activities throughout National Crime Victim’s Week. For instance, she runs a poster contest for fifth-graders and addresses crime and abuse trends, such as “sexting,” by talking to junior high classes in Ozark.
On the state level, Fite is chairwoman of the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys’ best practices subcommittee for victim services – a group that launched last year as only the second of its kind in the nation.
It’s all part of fulfilling her career calling. “We are to make our decisions based on the facts of the case and the applicable law,” Fite says. “These decisions are made without regard to who a victim or defendant is.”[[In-content Ad]]
