Prosecutor reacts to high court’s new caseload order

The preamble to a new South Carolina Supreme Court order reads:  “In an efficient criminal justice system, cases should be disposed of within months instead of years, regardless of whether defendants go to trial, plead guilty, enter into a diversion program, or have their cases dismissed.”  The order, to take effect July 3, will have impact on, among other offices, the Tenth Circuit Solicitor’s Office in Oconee and Anderson counties.  “This one changes a good bit what they put it in about a year ago,” says David Wagner, circuit solicitor.  From Wagner’s reading of last week’s order, control over when cases are scheduled is being returned to solicitors.  An order last year assigned that responsibility to clerks of court and circuit chief administrative judges.  “We’ll be able to handle.  It’s just a matter of changing the rules, if you know what I mean,” Wagner told 101.7/WGOG NEWS. Traditionally, circuit solicitors have had complete control of the dockets, as Wagner explains, because their offices are the ones responsible to prosecute.