Laramie County District Attorney Leigh Anne Manlove is confident she will be cleared of allegations of misconduct raised by a charge filed against her with the group that oversees the behavior of attorneys, she said.
Manlove, in a news release Thursday, said she will file a formal response to the charge filed last week with the state Board of Professional Responsibility accusing her of violating the state’s Rules of Professional Conduct for attorneys.
“This process will unfold as it must, according to the Rules of Disciplinary Procedure, and I am confident I will be exonerated,” she said.
She added she will continue to do the job she was elected to in the November 2018 general election.
“Politics is a contact sport, and I knew that coming into office, but my number one priority is fulfilling my obligation as a public servant,” she said. “I have a job to do, and I will not lose sight of that.”
The charge filed by W.W. Reeves, a special counsel for the Wyoming Bar Association, recommended that Manlove be the subject of a disciplinary hearing for a series of alleged violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct.
Most of the violations, the charge said, stem from Manlove’s “broad-ranging failure to competently perform the duties of her office.”
The alleged violations include exaggerating budget pressures on her office to justify the dismissal of almost 1,000 cases in circuit and district courts in Laramie County and creating an “unhealthy workplace” in the district attorney’s office that left the office short-staffed and unable to complete its tasks.
The charge also looked at the release of two men accused of dangerous crimes.
Manlove said her formal response will give the public a chance to hear her side of the dispute.
“Now that this matter is public and I am permitted to speak about it, I welcome the opportunity to ensure that the people of Laramie County who elected me get to hear all of the facts,” her release said. “I will be filing a formal response so that the public has the benefit of hearing both sides of the story.”
