Carroll County Prosecutor Tricia Thompson had to defeat two former prosecutors in the 2006 primary and general elections to reach her current elected position. Now that she is in the last year of her first term, she has decided she will again ask the voters of Carroll County to place her in the office for another four years.

“I have strong convictions about the rights of victims and I want to make sure those rights are represented in court,” Thompson said.

The single, new parent of an adopted toddler, said she did not become county prosecutor with the idea that she would only be in the office for one term.

“There has never been a time that I didn’t think I would not run again,” she said. “I’ve always thought I would.”

However Thompson said when she recently adopted a child from Russia, she reconsidered the decision to run for a second term. She said she examined all implications of the decision before proceeding.

“I love my job,” she said. “I love working with law enforcement as a team with them to protect the people in Carroll County.”

“And I love working with the victims,” she added.

Thompson considers herself a true victims’ advocate and said that the prosecutor’s office, under her direction, reflects those convictions. She said in the past three years, she has tried to make the office more accessible to victims and to keep them informed, even if it meant calling them after hours to discuss their case.

Thompson said she takes a hard stance against crimes against children. She explained she has worked to improve the processing of cases with law enforcement agencies and within her office.

“The budget crisis of 2008 changed some of the ways we do things in the office,” Thompson said. “I am not able to give as much financial support as I wanted to give to other law enforcement agencies because the money is needed in my office for expenses.”

Thompson considers the number of cases resolved to the victims’ satisfaction, the initiation of the WeTip Hotline and “A Child Is Missing” program with police agencies, as highlights of the past three years. She said she strives to help all police agencies work in a “teamwork” approach to solving crimes.

The prosecutor said she also changed from buying hardbound law books to purchasing online reference material. She said there was a significant cost savings when she made the change plus the online service provides more up-to-date information.

Thompson explained that one challenge she has faced in her three years as prosecutor is to align what she wants to accomplish with what she is able to accomplish.

“I have to always balance what can be done in the current county system with what I want to get done in the established system,” she explained. “I would like to have a victims’ advocate/investigator in the office. I would also like to have more time to go out into the community for public education.”

“I wish I had more time to be proactive rather than reactive for the taxpayers,” she added. “There are just some things I cannot change.”

Thompson said she has made some changes in what she considers to be in the right direction for the county.

“I have been able to streamline procedures, which makes handling cases more efficient,” she explained. “And we can always be more efficient.”

“I have the obligation to spend money carefully and wisely,” she added.

Thompson said she considers herself an employee of the taxpayers and she knows she is expected to do the best job she can do “and to see that my employees do the same.”

“I would hope the voters understand how hard I’ve worked to make Carroll County a safe place to live,” Thompson concluded. “Families in this county deserve to have someone in the prosecutor’s office who cares about ensuring their safety and the safety of their homes. Now that I am a parent, I appreciate this even more and I take the job even more personally.”