Faith plays a role for Sullivan
Prosecutor says Jesus is her judicial model.

If elected judge, Connie Sullivan has picked an ambitious role model to follow: Jesus Christ.

Sullivan, who has worked as a Boone County assistant prosecutor for nearly nine years, said Jesus’ teachings in the Bible match up well with the ideal values for a judge.

"Freedom and tolerance are Christian values," she said. "Jesus was not prejudiced against anyone, and neither am I. I’m a prosecutor. I’ve never been a persecutor."

Sullivan, 46, is running to become the Division 10 associate circuit judge, replacing Chris Kelly, who is stepping down. She faces private attorney and former Callaway County Assistant Prosecutor Geoffrey Preckshot in the Aug. 8 Republican primary election. The winner will face Democrat Leslie Schneider in November.

Faith plays an important role in Sullivan’s life. She reads the Bible every day, she attends Open Door Baptist Church and she says she tries to emulate Jesus in the way she treats those around her, including those whom she sends to jail.

The religious stance has paid dividends in her prosecutor job. She said a defense attorney once told her that she surmised Sullivan simply saw defendants as "pieces of crap." Sullivan said she replied by saying that couldn’t be further from the truth. She said that all people are God’s children and deserve respect, no matter what they’ve done.

The outwardly Christian attitude might come as a surprise in a judicial candidate, but Sullivan said Christian values and a judge’s role don’t interfere with each other.

"I’m a firm believer in the separation of church and state," she said. And besides, she points out, paraphrasing Romans 13:1-2, "the law of the Lord is to obey the law of the land."

She also said that people of all faiths and lifestyles would be equal in her courtroom.

"If you’re asking me whether I’d see the Baptist versus the Buddhist or the Christian versus the atheist and prefer the Baptist over the Buddhist or the soccer mom over the lesbian mom, that’s not the case," she said.

Born near the Missouri Bootheel, Sullivan grew up in Greenwood, Miss., a small town on the west side of the state. She was raised by her great-aunt and -uncle, who adopted her as a young child. Her parents had divorced, and her biological father gave her to his aunt and uncle who were unable to have children. They gladly adopted young Connie.

"Some of my very first memories are my parents telling me that I was adopted, and I thought they were saying ‘a dotted,’ meaning my freckles," she said.

Sullivan heard the calling to become a prosecutor at age 8. She was engrossed with the sensational Tate-LaBianca murders committed by Charles Manson and "The Family."

She remembers going to a supermarket and obsessing about the tabloid headlines about the slayings. She kept her fixation with the case even into her adult life. While in college she interviewed Vincent Bugliosi, who prosecuted the Tate-LaBianca case. She said she’s likely read every book written about the murders.

Although she’s always known she wanted to follow Bugliosi and become a prosecutor, it took a while to get around to going to law school. She graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree in English, but instead of starting law school she moved to Texas and started working for a litigation support company.

Six years later, she started her own company, Discovery, et al, gathering records for attorneys and helping with depositions.

In 1992, she sold the company and moved to Boone County. She enrolled in law school at the University of Missouri-Columbia, graduating in 1997.

Her first and only job out of law school has been working as an assistant prosecutor for the Boone County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

She’s tried a wide gamut of cases over the years, but animal abuse and neglect cases have always been especially important to her. She was given the "Pause for Applause" award by the Missouri Animal Control Association in 2004. She’s also on the Central Missouri Humane Society Board of Directors and served as the group’s president in 2005.

In addition to animal cases, today she also focuses on burglaries, arsons, assaults and gang violence. In 2005, she was the Missouri Chapter of the International Association of Arson Investigators’ "Prosecutor of the Year."

Sullivan enjoys strong support from the local law enforcement community. The Columbia Police Officers Association has voted to endorse her. The association’s president at the time of the endorsement vote, Officer Sterling Infield, said she is seen as a "law enforcement-friendly candidate."

Brian Rees, a trooper with the Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop F, said Sullivan is a caring, selfless person with a strong grasp on reality and the law.

"She’s very conscientious about what she does," he said. "She doesn’t do things halfway."

Rees said his personal support of Sullivan is based on knowing her five or six years through the courthouse and church.

"My opinion is that when people have a good idea of who they are, which I believe she does, that lends a great deal of precision in interpreting the law," Rees said.

Sullivan does not believe all her experience as a prosecutor and the support from law enforcement would imbalance her rulings as a judge. She said being a prosecutor is not just about winning cases.

"A good prosecutor is not just willing to see both sides of the story," she said. "A good prosecutor is determined to seek out the truth, not just convictions."

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Reach Jacob Luecke at (573) 815-1713 or jluecke@tribmail.com.

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