HCBA Lawyer Magazine Vol. 29, No. 3 | Page 13

F R O M T H E S T A T E A T T O R N E Y An d re w H. Wa r re n - St at e At t o r n ey Continued from page 10 Meaningful sanctions reduce the likelihood of future criminal violations and promote public safety. • We expanded our civil citation program for adult, first-time offenders committing misdemeanors. Our goal is to hold offenders accountable without the arrest, prosecution, and conviction that will ultimately jeopardize their job or housing. Nine hundred people participated in 2018. • We created the first-ever conviction review unit in our county to further protect the integrity of our system. This unit will review the rare circumstance where a person is wrongfully committed to ensure that the actual perpetrators are held accountable. • We handled nearly 55,000 cases in 2018. Preventative Public Safety Steps: • We convened our school system stakeholders to address school safety following the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. • We helped our criminal justice partners implement sensible steps to keep guns out of the hands of mentally unstable individuals who pose a threat to our community and themselves. Community Outreach: • We hosted the first-ever Hillsborough County expungement clinic. This allowed people to have a criminal record sealed or expunged if they were arrested, but not prosecuted, for a criminal violation. We created a single location for nearly 200 citizens to complete the fingerprinting, application, and notarization, so they could help put past mistakes behind them and benefit our community. • We created a community council that engages community members in candid discussion with our team about public safety and our policies. These leaders provide an honest assessment of programs, promote accountability, and increase understanding of our criminal justice system. We are proud to have these volunteers who represent the diversity of our great county. Transparency: • We have partnered with the MacArthur Foundation to study better ways to measure prosecutorial success. The MacArthur Foundation is part of a nationwide effort to study the challenges and successes of prosecutors. This groundbreaking effort will make our office stronger and our community better. • We continue to handle a huge volume of public records requests — nearly 800 in 2018. Making information available and providing insight into our work allows the community to better understand the role of the State Attorney’s Office. Over and above these specific policies, our nearly 300 dedicated public servants work hard every day to make our criminal justice system better. We are standing up for victims and holding offenders accountable, and building a safer, stronger community. JAN - FEB 2019 | HCBA LAWYER 11