Island County Prosecutor Greg Banks is making his first staff change since the election: filling the job for a deputy prosecuting attorney who stepped down last Monday.

Kyle Moore, a deputy prosecuting attorney who handled misdemeanors, gave two week’s notice and will work his last day today.

Banks said Moore did not give a reason for leaving.

While turnover always causes some disruptions, Banks said the prosecutor’s office will be able to handle the workload until a new attorney starts.

“I think we’ve got it covered,” he said.

“In an office this size, it’s at least once a month someone is on vacation, out sick or at a conference. So we’re all used to covering for people,” Banks said.

Peter Simpson, a recent graduate of Gonzaga University’s School of Law, will take the deputy prosecutor spot left vacant by Moore’s departure. Simpson starts

Nov. 27.

“I think he’s going to be a really good fit,” Banks said.

The prosecutor’s office was able to fill the position so quickly because it still had a pool of applicants who had applied for the land-use attorney job last held by Joshua Choate. Choate left the prosecutor’s office for a job with the state Attorney General’s Office.

The change in personnel in the prosecutor’s office comes soon after the close of a bruising battle for the job of Island County prosecutor.

Banks won reelection over Steve Selby, a former deputy prosecutor in Bank’s office who was fired soon after he publicly announced his desire to unseat his boss.

The prosecutor’s race supercharged the political climate of the office. Selby harshly criticized Banks’ management style, and Selby’s campaign crowed when it locked up the endorsements from most of Bank’s deputy prosecutors.

Other workers in Bank’s office rallied to Bank’s side. People on both sides said they were afraid they would be fired for speaking out — depending on who won the race.

On Nov. 7, Banks, a Democrat, won his third term. He picked up 52 percent of the vote, while Selby’s gathered 47 percent.

In the weeks since the election, the county campus has been abuzz with idle talk of an exodus of attorneys from the prosecutor’s office.

Only one deputy prosecutor — Moore — has made a move to leave, however.

Moore was hired in February 2004, and was making an annual salary of about $49,200 plus benefits. According to the 2006 payroll estimates in last year’s county budget, he was the lowest paid deputy prosecuting attorney who was working for the county.

Banks declined to discuss the rumors of conflict in the office.

“I’ve heard a number of rumors that are not true. I’m not going to talk about that,” Banks said.

“I want to focus on making the office work. Talking about rumors just propagates them,” he said.

Brian Kelly can be reached at 221-5300 or bkelly@southwhidbeyrecord.com.