ARARAT, Va. — It was not a good time to be a lawbreaker in Ararat on Tuesday night of last week, when key representatives of Patrick County’s criminal justice system visited Willis Gap Community Center.
Included were the legal team of the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office from the county seat of Stuart and Eric Sain of the Patrick Sheriff’s Office, the host deputy for Willis Gap Community Watch.
Each got the chance to speak before local residents in attendance about what their jobs entail, according to information provided by Mary Dellenback Hill, secretary of the Willis Gap Community Center, located on The Hollow Road in Ararat.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Dayna Kendrick Bobbitt (a role known as district attorneys in North Carolina) mentioned how she first joined the office as an intern while attending college at Virginia Tech.
After graduation, she enrolled in the University of South Carolina Law School and upon completing studies there returned to work in Patrick County.
When Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephanie Vipperman was appointed as a judge, Bobbitt ran for and was elected to that position after serving on an interim basis initially.
Bobbitt said one of her goals as a prosecutor is to protect those who are the most vulnerable — children, the elderly and the disabled.
Also speaking at the community center was Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Ria Farley, another former intern in the office.
One of the projects she developed while in that capacity was establishing the Child Advocacy Center, a satellite office in Stuart which provides a safe place for children when they are contacted by a forensic interviewer about cases involving them.
Nancy Turner Belcher, administrative assistant/office manager in the Commonwealth’s Attorneys Office, also talked about her work, which includes handling the extradition of fugitives from other states, among other functions.
Deputy Sain, who is relatively new to the Patrick County Sheriff’s Office, told those assembled how the prosecutor’s office assists local law enforcement efforts in many positive ways.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com