The role of the Chief Assistant is to act in the absence of the State Attorney.  She assists in the oversight of the day to day legal functioning of the attorney staff of the office as well as maintaining a caseload herself, emphasizing cases involving major crimes or crimes of high profile in the community.  Her caseload in part is utilized to provide training to the other Assistants in the handling of sophisticated issues and trials.  She is also assigned responsibility for any case assignments outside of the Circuit that might be made by the Governor.  

The Chief Assistant has responsibility for monitoring attorney performance and completing required reports as directed by the State Attorney for internal use as well as for submission to the legislature and the courts.  These reports serve an important role in complying with legislative mandates as to certain types of crimes and in providing data that can be used by the State Attorney and various other segments of the criminal justice community for analysis and planning.  The Chief Assistant performs other administrative functions as directed by the State Attorney, such as the planning and preparation of regular In-Service training programs for the attorney staff, law enforcement training, and other responsibilities aimed at improving and maintaining the professional expertise of the attorney staff.