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Register to Vote - Deadline Oct 4

Mike Dvorak files seeking re-election for St. Joseph County Prosecutor

This second term, now in its final year, brought with it many challenges which I believe, together with my Deputy Prosecutors and fine staff, we have met with a great deal of success. There have been many achievements over the last term, including:

  • We have built a strong working relationship with all of the local law enforcement agencies in St. Joseph County
  • We developed the "Special Victims Unit," a multi-jurisdictional unit comprised of detectives from the three major law enforcement agencies in the County, for the benefit of women and children who are victims of particularly difficult and sensitive types of crimes
  • Participation with the St. Joseph Superior court "Drug Court" Program
  • Participation as an anchoring partner of the Family Justice Center of St. Joseph County, an organization celebrating its 3rd Anniversary of bringing together services for victims of domestic violence and their children
  • Servicing the business community with the recovery of fraudulently written checks and the creation of a "Bad Check Education Program"
  • Participation with the City of South Bend in the federally funded "Weed and Seed" Program
  • Reorganization of the Adult Protective Services Unit to better serve older and endangered adults, with an attorney as its Director and five investigators serving a four-county area
  • Participation with the US Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives "Project Disarm" Task Force
  • Creation of a county-wide Fatal Alcohol Crash Team under a grant from the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute
  • Reorganization of the Child Support Division of the Prosecutor's Office, which is charged with the responsibility to establish and enforce collection of child support obligations, resulting in increased collections and efficiencies
  • Maintaining the office budget of County taxpayer funds at an actual dollar amount lower than the 2003 budget prepared by my predecessor, while seeking additional federal and state grant funds to cover costs for programs and statutorily-mandated services

Challenges to Meet in the Future

  • Increasing caseloads, with more complex evidence coming from more skilled and scientific investigations by our law enforcement agencies requires better trained prosecutors to present the cases
  • The economic strain on our community increases the criminal case loads and causes a greater need for child support services. Meeting these increased demands within our budget will require us to be more efficient and effective
  • Our court system, law enforcement agencies, and the Prosecutor's Office have a clear need for better technology to share information. These new systems have the potential to operate more efficiently, while reducing the need for additional manpower and its related costs
  • We continually struggle to maintain competitive salaries to recruit and retain a strong professional staff

We look forward to continuing to build upon the strong relationship with our partners in law enforcement, crossing city boundaries and political lines, for the well-being of St. Joseph County. This will provide each citizen a safe place in which to work, live, and raise our families.

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