An Eldersburg lawyer and community activist filed yesterday as a Democratic candidate for Carroll County state's attorney.
Richard S. Nacewicz, 70, is the first challenger to incumbent Jerry F. Barnes to emerge. The Republican, who is seeking re-election to a third term, ran unopposed four years ago.
Nacewicz, a Carroll resident since 1996, has a general law practice at his home and is a board member of Freedom Area Citizens Council and Linwood Children's Center. His resume lists many community groups in Carroll and Prince George's counties. He said he had a law office in Bowie that he recently closed.
"I was contemplating retirement," he said, "but I found out I didn't like it."
Nacewicz said Barnes is not operating an efficient office and should have accomplished more in the areas of domestic violence and drug and alcohol awareness in the schools.
"I think Barnes runs a rather large office ... and we still have a lot of crime," he said. "It's a huge operation and I wonder just how effective it is."
He disagrees with Barnes' support of the Eddie Eagle public school gun-safety programs, saying, "I personally took my son out and taught him to shoot, gun safety and all that."
Last year, Nacewicz represented several taxpayers in a civil lawsuit against the Carroll County Commission, challenging the commissioners' paying more than the appraised value for farmland near Union Bridge. The case was dismissed.
Nacewicz said he has been actively working for Democratic candidates for the three County Commission seats.
He said he decided to go to law school at 49, graduating from Catholic University in 1985, primarily to become an advocate for the developmentally disabled on behalf of an autistic son.
His resume states that he was a member of the Maryland Department of Mental Health and Hygiene's review board, worked for 15 years in New York and Washington in the area of food and drug industry standards and that from October 1962 until November 1985, he was the FDA's branch chief of interstate sanitation and helped to develop standards for rail transportation of food and drugs.