Culwell to Serve as CP Prosecutor

DAYTON – Columbia County Prosecutor Rea Culwell, came to an agreement last week with the College Place City Council to serve as prosecuting attorney for that city beginning immediately.

Culwell told The Times she expects the College Place job to take about 10 hours per week, and she will do most of that work evenings and weekends.

"They have a court docket twice a month, which lasts one to two hours each," she said. "Other than attending those, I'll do the rest of the work off hours."

Culwell's work for College place will be strictly on the criminal law side. The city has a contract with a separate law firm for its civil law work, handling things such as contracts and employee issues.

Culwell is finishing her third four-year term in Columbia County this year and is not seeking reelection. She and her husband plan to move from Dayton to Walla Walla early next year, where she will go into private practice.

Deputy Columbia County Prosecutor Dale Slack has filed to run for prosecutor in the upcoming election. He is running unopposed.

"Their current prosecutor quit, and they needed someone right away," Culwell said of the College Place position. She met with the City Council last week, and the contract was finalized.

"Sometimes it is very difficult for cities to engage prosecutors on a contract basis when the job market is relatively good for attorneys and the pool of candidates is not very large, as is the case in Walla Walla County," she added.