SALINE CO.— With the recent appointment of an Eldorado native to a vacant assistant state’s attorney position, State’s Attorney Mike Henshaw has brought a southern Illinois son back home.
In addition to nearly nine years of legal experience in both civil and criminal cases in both state and federal courtrooms, Jayson Clark, 36, brings with him experience in one of St. Louis’ most prominent law firms.
He is a proven litigator and experienced as a successful defense attorney as well.
“I know what it is like to put together and present a strong defense, which is key to putting together a successful case for the prosecution,” Clark said.
Tried hand at sports
As a young man Clark tried his hand at sports.
“I was miserable at baseball,” Clark said.
With his father, Jerry, being coach at Eldorado High School, Clark struggled to find his sports niche.
“I can vouch that this coach’s kids didn’t get any preferential treatment. I played basketball for a year and sucked at that too,” Clark said.
Clark also tried his hand at track but found more success on the football field.
Before graduating he got in some field time as starting quarterback in the Power T offense and spent some time as a running back and defensive back.
Musically inclined
In the 1990s the son of Jerry and Pat Clark got in touch with his inner musician in the form of a punk rock band with the nom de plume Fastplant.
Clark on guitar and vocals and his band mates Phil Newton, bass and vocals; Ross Lloyd, drums and vocals and John Glasscock, guitar and vocals enjoyed quite a following, produced a CD and were featured in several reviews of their talents.
“We were a cover band and played around the area,” Clark said. “I felt that it was a healthy way for people to let loose some aggression. We don’t see those kinds of outlets anymore.”
Going mobile
When Clark graduated high school in 1995 he went to work for Republican Missouri Congresswoman Jo Ann Emmerson, who succeeded her husband Bill, after he succumbed to cancer in 1996 just shy of finishing his eighth term.
In 1997 Jo Ann Emmerson was the first independent elected to federal office from Missouri in 122 years.
She later re-joined the Republican Party.
“I was her mobile office director,” Clark said. “I drove 26 counties in the 8th Congressional District of Missouri and spent my days setting up shop and talking to people about their concerns and finding them help when they needed it.”
Clark said the mobile office gave him insight that would have been difficult to get anywhere else.
“Sometimes people come to talk to you and they don’t know what their problem is and you have to help them find that before you can start looking for an answer,” Clark said.
It was that mobile office that gave Clark his passion for serving the public.
Emmerson later resigned her congressional seat January 22, 2013 to become President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.
The law
Clark said he realized upward growth would come easier if he had a law degree.
He wasn’t sure exactly what he was going to do with it, just that it would aid in his career advancement.
What he didn’t expect was how hard he would be bit by the legal bug.
While still in law school at Washington University, St. Louis, he was offered a clerk position at a prestigious firm in St. Louis and a year later accepted a job offer with the same firm.
“My last two years of law school I didn’t have to worry about having a job when I finished and I took criminal law and criminal procedure,” Clark said. “I was consumed with it.”
His third year at the firm he was granted the nearly unheard of opportunity to try a jury case on his own.
“I won,” Clark said. “And I have been in love with being in the courtroom ever since.”
Lost and found
In the 2008 election Clark worked on the campaign of Rod Wolf, former state’s attorney running against Mike Henshaw.
“We lost,” Clark said. “I knew even then I wanted to be a prosecutor some day.”
In fact, in early 2009 Clark said he spoke with Henshaw and told him he would like to be a prosecutor in his home county.
“We have been friends ever since,” Clark said. “And out of the blue I got a phone call and it was Mike. He said Eva Walker was leaving and wanted to know if I was interested. That call came on a Saturday, I was here on Monday afternoon.”
Job: To do the right thing
When asked what he thought about prosecutors having a reputation as a legal hatchet man, Clark said discernment should guide a prosecutor, not a blinding urge to prosecute everybody for anything possible.
“Discretion should be used in bringing cases,” Clark said. “My job first and foremost is not just to prosecute but to do the right thing. If I don’t believe someone is guilty I am obligated not to pursue.
“In this job I will see some who have reached a turning point in their lives and a second chance is warranted.”
By second chance, Clark said that didn’t mean something just goes away.
“That’s what court supervision and a variety of other sentencing options are for,” he said. “There is a wide assortment of tools at a prosecutor’s discretion.”
Happy to be home
Clark said he is both humbled and motivated to be working with Henshaw, who has been state’s attorney, judge, chief judge and state’s attorney again; five year veteran assistant prosecutor Jason Olson and Amanda Moore, who was brought on board Henshaw’s team two and a half years ago.
“I have been burning the midnight oil,” Clark said. “Working with professionals like this keeps you on your toes.”
Clark and his wife Krystal have moved back to Eldorado with their two children.
“There are little things we both miss about living in a big city,” Clark said of himself and his bride. “But we are both very happy to be able to come home and to serve the communities we grew up in. We are so glad we will be raising our family here.”
Continuing the tradition
Henshaw himself said that after the resignation of Eva Walker, who worked tirelessly and became the area’s top prosecutor of sex crimes, that he wanted to find another experienced attorney who could step in and start handling even the most complex of cases right from the start.
“And that is exactly what Jayson brings to this office,” Henshaw said. “Jayson has the experience, the motivation and the professional wherewithal to not only continue the fine tradition of this office but to play a vital role in carrying that tradition into the future.”