A $622,000 federal grant was awarded to the Pima County Attorneyโs Office to expand advocacy services to crime victims in outlying county municipal courts.
The county attorneyโs Victim Services Division will receive the money to re-establish and staff satellite offices in Oro Valley/Marana and Sahuarita/Green Valley, said Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall.
โI am very pleased that we have been granted the additional resources needed to significantly enhance our services in high-growth areas of the county,โ said LaWall in a news release. โWe will now be able to better address the needs of all our victims, providing support and court advocacy to those victims appearing in municipal courts, in addition to those appearing in Pima County Superior and Justice Courts.โ
The three-year grant will be used to hire four new crime victim advocates, and provide them with vehicles, said LaWall in an interview Monday.
She said satellite offices operated in the outlying jurisdictions from 2007 to 2011, and then the services ended because of the loss of grant funding. Crime victims โdid not have access to the same support and advocacy to navigate the criminal justice system and to get restraining orders,โ she said.
โThis grant is really important, especially in a time of tight budgets,โ LaWall said. โI am committed to finding resources to enhance public safety and provide support for crime victims.โ
LaWall said โwithout the cooperation of victims it is impossible to hold criminals accountable. We need their testimony and cooperation,โ said LaWall, adding that advocates help victims navigate through the criminal justice process. The court process, said LaWall, can be complicated, difficult and traumatizing for victims.
In the news release, Sahuarita Chief of Police John Noland said: โWe are very pleased that Victim Services will again have a presence in Sahuarita. Supporting and educating victims is crucial to holding perpetrators accountable.โ
The federal Victims of Crime Act, which funded the grant through its Crime Victims Fund, receives its money through fines and fees assessed against individuals and corporate entities convicted of criminal offenses, not by tax dollars, officials said.
The county Attorneyโs Office Victim Services Division is among the first in the nation. It was established in 1974, and its staff and volunteers provided crisis response, referrals and court advocacy to more than 8,700 victims across Pima County in 2014, according to LaWallโs office.
