Four-term Lewis County district attorney to seek a fifth

Julie Abbass, Watertown Daily Times, N.Y.
·2 min read

Jan. 27—LOWVILLE — Lewis County District Attorney Leanne K. Moser will be seeking reelection in November for her fifth term.

As she completes her 16th year in office and 26 years as a prosecutor, Ms. Moser is reflective about the many changes in criminal justice over the years "from Raise the Age to Bail Reform" and the new discovery laws that increased the demands on prosecutors to provide all evidence against someone to their defense attorneys in a relatively short timeframe.

"While it (prosecutor) is not the same job I began in 1996, it is with the same passion and pride that I come to work every day to serve my community," she said in her reelection announcement.

During a Wednesday interview, Ms. Moser said the thought of not running for reelection "creeped in there" while caring for her elderly father during the pandemic,

"When I was doing that — I was never not going to care for my father — so while in the midst of that, the idea of working and continuing to do that was an overwhelming thought," she said. After her father's death in 2021, however, Ms. Moser re-focused on her work and the question of whether or not to run again became more easily answered by the fact that she still "loves the career path" she chose.

"That is who I am and it is everything I am professionally and career wise," she said.

Although a number of her peers have retired and she sees the allure, she said "that's not where I am right now."

Ms. Moser praised her team and the work they have been able to accomplish, from setting up the first DWI Victim Impact Panel and organizing the Drug Task Force with the Sheriff's Office and the Lowville Police Department, to working in conjunction with Jefferson County to provide resources for child victims of sexual and physical assaults.

Lewis is one of the three counties in the state that combine the coroner and district attorney positions. During her terms in office, Ms. Moser said she has "developed skills and knowledge," fostered relationships relating to the coroner position and established a new process by which the county's Traumatic Loss Team will be called to make grief counseling and other services available immediately under certain circumstances.

Guarding community safety and protecting victims are Ms. Moser's guideposts.