PHOTO COURTESY OF CHRIS BECKER & PHOTO COURTESY OF ALIDA BRYANT
by Cynthia Price
Legal News
Though the careers of both the candidates for Kent County Prosecutor are similar in length, and involve working for organizations that meet the needs of the public, Chris Becker and Alida Bryant are very different people.
Becker currently works as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, including five years as the Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, which means he is a county employee. He works directly for Prosecutor Bill Forsyth, whose retirement has opened up the field for this year’s election.
“I’ve worked here 21 years, came here fresh out of law school, and the only job I’ve had is working here,” Becker says.
Bryant has spent 22 years in the Kent County Office of the Defender, which operates as a non-profit, dedicated to providing representation for the indigent.
Before that, after law school graduation, Bryant worked two years for White, Beekman, Przybylowicz, Schneider and Baird, a labor and employment firm whose largest client was the Michigan Education Association,and then briefly had her own criminal defense private practice in Lansing.
Becker, who was an All American swimmer while at East Kentwood High School, received his undergraduate degree from Michigan State University, and his J.D. from the Valparaiso University School of Law.
Bryant, a native of Baltimore, received her Bachelor’s degree from Mount St. Mary’s University in Maryland. She went to Drake University Law School for her J.D.
But Bryant says she would bring a different perspective to the position.
“I’m actually trying to be the voice for those who are unrepresented,” she says. “I believe in criminal justice reform. There are so many people in our jails and prisons, and I think it’s time to get them out and into alternative programming and working with community coalitions to keep them out.
“I’ve found out about a lot of organizations since I’ve been running for this office, people and groups working together to keep people from going into or returning to prison. These organizations help them to become a part of society again.”
She adds, “We do have a class of people who don’t have any victims as recognized by law, and I believe in helping them — moving from accountability to productivity.”
Though Becker’s website says that he is “Tough on Crime,” in conversation Becker is more focused on the work he has done to help vulnerable victims.
In 2006, he led the charge in the first conviction in Kent County of embezzlement of vulnerable adult, and later obtained the first felony murder conviction in a vulnerable adult abuse case. He also brought the first human traffick-
ing/transporting for prostitution trial in 2011, resulting in a conviction.
Becker is co-chair of the Kent County Coordinated Domestic Violence Response Team, and on the Board of Directors for the Children’s Assessment Center. Becker is a member of the YWCA Sexual Assault Advisory Committee, the Stop Elder Abuse Coalition, and the Kent County Human Trafficking Task Force.
Elder Law of Michigan honored Becker’s work by giving him the Joe sutton Access to Justice Award in 2015.
Becker, who lives in Ada with his wife Jeanne and their three children aged 8, 11, and 14, feels his experience as he Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney is one of the strongest reasons to vote for him. He oversaw the day-to-day operations at the Prosecutor’s office, and helped Forsyth develop their department’s $7 million plus budget.
“I’ve had not only the 21 years there, with all the different cases I’ve handled and relationships I’ve established, but I’ve also done the administrative work, which isn’t necessarily the most glamorous, working with court administrators and others on different programs they have. And I’ve had experience in hiring — you have to hire the right people and put them in positions to do the work, because obviously one prosecutor doesn’t do it all,” he comments.
Both as a volunteer and professionally, Bryant has also been in positions of responsibility for budgeting and administrative work. She notes that at her job, “I need to maintain schedules, and take care of all the administrative work for many, many cases per year.
Also, attorneys in prosecutors offices are union members, and I have experience with that because I worked for the labor law firm.”
Bryant, whose husband of 19 years is a Grand Rapids police officer (they have two teenage boys), says on her website, “Times have changed, and Kent County needs a prosecutor that can help bridge the gap between a reality where law enforcement is viewed as heavy-handed and a more balanced approach where citizens are validated.”
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