Jack Banas has been a law enforcement officer (attaining the rank of Captain on the St. Charles City Police force), an assistant prosecuting attorney, and St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney for over 31 years. He is the only candidate who provides sufficient law enforcement experience to oversee the office of St. Charles Prosecuting Attorney. The St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney is charged with enforcing state criminal laws.

The Prosecutor's office receives over 5000 applications for criminal charges every year; more than 2000 of those are felony applications. The office also prosecutes over 12,000 state traffic violations annually, plus over 5000 bad checks that are referred for collection through prosecution. Approximately 500 child support cases are referred for enforcement of non-custodial parents' support obligations. All of this requires extensive legal experience in law enforcement.

Banas has handled all of the Prosecutor’s responsibilities professionally and effectively. Among the many cases prosecuted successfully, his office engineered the successful prosecution of three cold case murders -- State v. Rentfro (guilty - life imprisonment); State v. Wadlow (guilty - 30 years ); State v. Speaks (guilty - two counts life without parole). In addition, he has accomplished the following:

• Established the first sitting grand jury in St. Charles County to assist in the investigation and prosecution of crimes against children, sexual assault cases, and undercover drug operations.
• Performed a key role in the creation and implementation of the Child Center, which provides objective and professional video - taped interviews of children who are victims of sexual abuse. The interviews are taped to reduce the necessity of repetitive interviews of the victim. The Center also provides counseling services and educational prevention classes.
• He was instrumental in the creation and implementation of the St. Charles County Drug Court. The court was created to reduce crime by addressing the offender’s underlying problem of drug addiction. * He also worked to create a branch of the Drug Court which is dedicated to addressing persistent DWI offenders to reduce the number of repeat drunk drivers.
• He added an assistant prosecuting attorney position to prosecute domestic violence. The deputy now supervises two additional prosecutors trained and assigned to prosecute domestic violence.
• He also added a specially trained assistant prosecuting attorney to prosecute child abuse, child sexual abuse and sexual assault cases.
• He assigned a specially trained assistant prosecutor to assist law enforcement in the investigation and prosecution of alcohol related vehicular crashes resulting in death or serious physical injury.
• After the original grant funds expired, Banas added a specially trained assistant prosecutor to prosecute drug violations and assist the Drug Task Force with its investigations of drug law violations. In addition to the original responsibilities, the assistant now reviews and files criminal forfeiture petitions. By filing these petitions, illegal funds gained from drug trafficking can be used for law enforcement, thereby reducing the moneys needed from honest taxpayers.

Banas was appointed to the Missouri Attorney General's Sexual Predator Review Committee which reviews sex offenders who are incarcerated and are about to be released. The prosecutors on the committee make recommendations for further commitment under the sexual predator commitment provisions. In the past ten years Jack Banas has reviewed over 200 cases and recommended lifetime commitments for those offenders.

Banas’ opponent is a perennial candidate for office who is virtually unknown to Republican activists since he is not known to attend meetings of GOP groups, or rallies, dinners, fundraisers, or any other activities. He has filed for judgeships in the past, and campaigns solely via automated phone messages and yard signs.

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