Norfolk is expanding its Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office in what city leaders are calling a historic investment in the local justice system.
Beginning this month, prosecutors will be assigned to every criminal case in Norfolk where a defendant could face jail time, making Norfolk the first—and currently the only—city in Hampton Roads to provide prosecutors for every jailable criminal case.
The change follows a city investment of more than $900,000, allowing the office to hire nine additional prosecutors, bringing the total to 50 attorneys, while also creating a new Director of Diversion position to oversee alternatives to criminal convictions when appropriate…