CCO Public Servant of the Year

One thing the CCO didn’t mention to its’ loyal readers during Tuesday’s awards ceremony was the marquis event: the Public Servant of the Year Award. Who was this year’s recipient? Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Nick Hermann. The CCO selected Hermann from a slew of qualified candidates as the cream of the crop. This selection can be attributed to any number of reasons, not the least of which being the increased productivity of the Prosecutor’s Office. Mole 7 has learned that Hermann instituted a number of cutting edge and well thought out changes to increase the efficiency of his office.

Changes made include a switch to Vertical Prosecution, meaning attorneys are assigned cases immediately upon filing. This provides accountability for cases, has improved communication with law enforcement officials and victims and has had a positive effect on overall case management.

Additionally in 2011, Hermann took steps to join forces with the United States Attorney’s office and formed a joint initiative to combat violent crime. Deputy Prosecutor Levi Burkett has been assigned the role of Special Assistant and works closely with the US Attorneys fighting the worst of the worst in local crime.

Hermann fought hard for the rights of single parents in 2011 as well. Under Hermann, child support collection rates rose above the state average despite being severely understaffed: his agents carry a caseload that is 64% higher than the state’s average. Also on the child support side, the undertaking began to eliminate paper files with the institution of a new paperless system that will allow agents to access the over 15,000 active cases electronically and thus lead to further efficiencies.

Over the past year, Hermann recognized and took on one of the area’s largest criminal foes, methamphetamine. He began a series of Public Service Announcements aimed at combating this epidemic. The PSAs have led to increased community awareness and involvement.

Additionally, Hermann and his office have been active in support of several local charities whose missions are directed toward mentoring youth. Hermann recognizes that the youth are the future of this community and his office is being proactive in attempting to give them the best future they can have by supporting programs that provide them opportunities that give them a chance to lead lives free from crime

Seeing a need for appropriate case resolution, Hermann and his office got outside “the box” and revamped a wide array of programs geared toward finding appropriate resolutions for offenders such as Infraction Deferral, Pretrial Diversion, Drug Court, Juvenile Drug Court, GPS monitoring, In-home drug testing, and Veteran’s Court. These programs offer creative and effective solutions.

One of the biggest changes the CCO noticed from prior years was Hermann’s aggressive approach to the prosecution of repeat offenders. In 2011, the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office filed over 400 Habitual Offender or Habitual Substance Offender Counts, a marked increase over the 10 filed in the prior year.