Alpena Prosecutor, Ed Black Prepares for a Temporary Leave of Office

As a member of the US Army Reserve, Prosecutor Ed Black is making arrangements just in case he is called to active duty in the upcoming weeks.

Earlier this week, Black revealed in a finance committee that he could report to duty sometime in December, and would need to make preparations to hire someone to handle his caseloads if he has to leave the country.

Black said he may have to travel to Kuwait to work as the legal assistant to soldiers, but his status has not been confirmed yet.

“If I do have to take a period of time where I’m deployed I can still be in charge of the office but be able to use the salary and forfeit my salary so that I can hire other people to help out in the office. So this is literally precautionary measure in case that does occur. Because of the way that the county runs and the county finance I have to make sure that in the event that does happen that I’m not putting the office in a disadvantage,” Black explained.

Black said he has faith that the staff can handle casework loads if he does have to leave the country.

“There’s a lot of people that do the exact same thing that don’t get the same kind of attention that this is getting. I have absolute confidence in the staff that’s here I just need to make sure that if I end up having to step away physically that there’s other people that I can get in contact to make sure that I’m not putting the office in a disadvantage,” Black said.

If black is deployed he could be in Kuwait possibly for one year.