US DOJ Grant Award Announcement for Bennington and Windham County

For Immediate Release

Montpelier, VT

October 31, 2019

Contacts:

State’s Attorney Tracy Shriver, 802-257-2860, tracy.shriver@vermont.gov

State’s Attorney Erica Marthage, 802-442-8116, erica.marthage@vermont.gov

As Domestic Violence Awareness Month draws to a close, State’s Attorneys Tracy Shriver (Windham County)  and Erica Marthage (Bennington County) are pleased to announce that their SA Offices are the recipients of a U.S. Department of Justice federal grant which enable them to  maintain strong, committed domestic violence prosecutions in their counties.

The two State’s Attorney Offices have had  dedicated, effective and collaborative prosecution units in place since the mid-1990s.  Last year, a reshuffling of grant awards from one of the funding agencies left the two offices without the fiscal support to maintain the prosecutorial, investigative and law enforcement staffing. 

In early 2019, the two State’s Attorneys Offices, along with the Bennington County Sheriff, Dover Police Department, PAVE (Bennington) and Women’s Freedom  Center (Windham and southern Windsor counties) collaborated on a  federal grant opportunity from the United States Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women, with the goal of continuing their work to prevent and prosecute domestic violence in their counties. The State’s Attorneys were recently notified by the US Department of Justice that they have received a three-year grant that will fund their DV Units, including funding to develop lethality assessment tools, improve data tracking, formalize and train law enforcement, advocacy, and prosecution staff.  All of this work supports the efforts of SA Shriver and Marthage in their work to hold domestic violence perpetrators accountable, and increase victim safety. 

“We are grateful for the opportunities presented by this grant award, and remain committed to zealous and effective prosecution of domestic violence crimes in our counties.  We also are very thankful for assistance received from our Executive Director John Campbell, and from US Senator Patrick Leahy and his staff, who helped with the grant and strongly advocated for our counties and citizens”, said Shriver and Marthage.