Norfolk will become the first city in Hampton Roads to have a prosecutor working every jailable misdemeanor case. This shift, Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi says, will close a longstanding gap in the city’s criminal justice system.
More than 415,000 misdemeanors were charged statewide in 2024, according to state court data. But Fatehi said Virginia provides no state funding for their prosecution, focusing resources exclusively on felonies. Even felony funding covers only about 85 percent of assessed need, according to a2023 study by the National Center for State Courts. In most of Virginia, localities supplement state funds to cover both dockets, but in Hampton Roads, misdemeanor dockets have traditionally gone unstaffed.
Because Virginia is a police-charging state, meaning a magistrate rather than a prosecutor issues charges, misdemeanor cases in Norfolk previously reached court with police officers arguing alongside a defense attorney in front of judge…