Law Enforcement Week — Kristi McGowen: Office manager integral to law and order

Kristi McGowen is the office manager in the Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney's office, and while she may not patrol the streets looking for criminals or argue a case before a judge and jury, she is just as integral to the pursuit of law and order as any police officer.

Mark Welker, Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney, said his office handles up to 4,000 cases a year that range in severity from speeding tickets all the way up to domestic violence and even murder.

"Kristi's historical knowledge is an invaluable asset that is leaned upon by the staff on a daily basis," Welker said. "She has completed both some of the most mundane tasks and some of the most important tasks for the office that have allowed the prosecutors to focus on their courtroom duties. She is one of the main reasons why the office has maintained the consistency that our office has been known for throughout the years." McGowen said she supervises all the non-attorney staff and provides any administrative assistance Welker and the eight other prosecutors need. She said her tasks range from small things, such as ordering office supplies, all the way up to preparing sometimes thousands of pages of "discovery" documents, her office is required to provide to defense attorneys.

Having worked there for 28 years, McGowen said she is often the person her coworkers go to for training and answers.

McGowen said she came to the legal field by following in her mom's footsteps, who worked in law offices her entire career. Even at Southeast Missouri State University, where McGowen received a degree in business management, she said she was drawn to classes on government over history because "that was much more interesting".

McGowen said one of her first jobs was working for Judge Gary Camp before he became circuit judge for Cape Girardeau County. She said she once worked in a doctor's office but found that wasn't for her.

"I decided I liked working in the legal field much better than the medical field," McGowen said. "Specifically the prosecutor's office. I like to see the story behind the case, how they start and go all the way to the jury trial and how they finish up. From cradle to grave so to speak."

She said even though many cases that come through her office fall into similar categories each one is different.

"It might be the same book, but every time I open it, there's a different story to read," McGowen said.

McGowen said the best days in her office happen when a case they've been working on for years finally gets a conviction. Conversely, a bad day for McGowen is when a trial her office has spent six months preparing for is postponed.

"Then all the work the prosecutor has done on it and the advocate working with the victims and our staff doing the subpoenas and getting everything ready for court, only to find out that it got continued for some reason," McGowen said. "That brings the whole office down. and all we can say is, 'Here we go again.'"

McGowen said working in the prosecuting attorney's office has opened her eyes when it comes to people.

"I came from a really small town where I knew everyone, and back when I grew up, you could leave your keys in the car and everything would be fine," McGowen said. "I'm not like that anymore."

Even though what she has seen through her job has made McGowen "much more cautious" said she still sees the good in people and gives them the "benefit of the doubt" especially in her interactions with victims and witnesses. After hours on the phone over the course of a case, McGowen said she can relate to them and, even though she will likely never meet them in person, she can "almost get to know the witnesses as friends".