HOUGHTON – Houghton County Prosecutor Michael Makinen is seeking a second full term in office.

Makinen, who has been prosecutor since 2009, is running as a Democrat. He faces Republican challenger James Cone and Douglas Edwards, the former prosecutor who is running as an independent.

Before becoming prosecutor, Makinen was an associate at Wisti and Jaaskelainen before forming a partnership with current Circuit Court Judge Charles Goodman. When Goodman became a probate judge, Makinen served as a sole practitioner until 2009. He was appointed as prosecutor that year after Fraser Strome left to became probate court judge.

As an attorney, Makinen practiced at courts at every level in the state, including the Supreme Court and 50 to 100 jury trials.

“Literally, they needed someone who could hit the boards running, able to try cases functionally immediately and able to understand handling of files, what has to be done on the file immediately, and so I agreed to accept the position,” he said.

Since 2009, Makinen has handled more than 1,000 felonies and 4,000 misdemeanors. And it’s happened with staff and budget half the size of Delta and Chippewa counties, the Upper Peninsula counties closest in size to Houghton.

“One thing I feel good about is being able to maintain the level of work we are doing with what I believe the public wants, and that is fiscal stability, prudence,” he said.

Through restructuring in the prosecutor’s office, Makinen’s been able to increase funding to the county, he said. He’s been able to double what the county receives in funding for the support specialist position, which contracts with the state for paternity and child support cases. That original amount will triple if the federal government funds a bonus system it created, Makinen said.

In many cases, he said, things can be done with plea agreements that can result in state reimbursements to the county for housing.

In one year shortly after the financial crash of 2008, Makinen said, the office had the only positive cash flow for the county.

The biggest trend Makinen’s noticed since coming to the office is a push by all three branches of state government to control local decision-making.

The state is working to change its indigent defense counsel program funding, which Makinen said will likely come with strings attached to the counties. It is also launching Swift and Sure, a probation program in which judges would agree ahead of time to the penalties for probation violations. That program would mean increased costs for the county jail, Makinen said, without any state funding to expand it or build a new one.

“They are taking the position that’s the exact opposite of what experience shows, and that is each case has to be analyzed individually … they’re pushing all cases to come through x period of time even if the prosecution, the defense and the judge all say this case needs more evaluation,” he said. “They don’t care. they want it plugged into a computer that says they’re getting quick results for the public.”

Makinen also opposes the state’s early-out program. He pointed to the case of Paul Moilanen, who was released after his minimum sentence of eight years for a knife attack in Houghton. Moilanen was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a Lake Linden woman. It also led to the early release of Camiel Vanhaecke, a person of interest in the disappearance of Leah Harding.

“The state is saying the public is being protected by this, recidivism is down, which is essentially nonsense,” Makinen said.

Continuing to evaluate cases individually will be one of Makinen’s priorities for a next term. He’s also looking to build on the success of the county’s treatment court, which has had the best record in the state so far.

“It’s the best because we have a good team top to bottom,” he said. “If it’s going to be someone who is going to be a treatment court candidate, then my office is looking to work within the concept of treatment court from the beginning.”

So far, it’s fared better with alcohol cases than drug abuse cases; Makinen said there will be refinements on an ongoing basis.

If the state’s indigent counsel recommendations are put into place, Makinen said, it will require more flexibility from the office in handling cases. It’s typically been divided so that Makinen handles circuit court and felony cases, while Assistant Prosecutor Brittany Bulleit handles probate court and misdemeanor. Due to the faster pace of cases and greater number of attorneys, they would have to pool cases more, Makinen said.

“I have assumed they’re not going to because they don’t have the money,” he said. “Without saying it, we’ve been working so that we’re in a position to deal with it as soon as it comes, if it comes through. Public safety will not be an issue if I’m still here, because we’ve looked at it, we’ve analyzed what’s going to have to be done.”

A new federal law requires 17-year-olds to be treated as juveniles in terms of incarceration. For Michigan, in which 17-year-olds are sentences as adults, that means the county would have to pay to put them somewhere, as the county jail has no juvenile facility, Makinen said.

In reference to suggestions that law enforcement should have increased access to the office, Makinen said an open-door policy is already in place. All law enforcement officers in the county have cell numbers for him and Assistant Prosecutor Brittany Bulleit, he said.

However, he said, the office is still independent from law enforcement. The department evaluates police reports, which doesn’t always agree with the action being requested, Makinen said.

“Part of the function of the office is to not only prosecute criminals, but protect the Constitution,” he said. “We have been mindful of that. We understand our role in the law enforcement community, and we try to do it as best we can.”