About Us

Commonwealth's Attorney

At the Newport News Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, we are committed to upholding justice and serving the citizens of Newport News. With an unwavering dedication to the pursuit of truth and fairness, we strive to create a safer community for everyone who calls Newport News home.

We maintain open lines of communication with law enforcement agencies, community organizations, and crime victims to foster a collaborative approach to crime prevention and prosecution. By working together, we can build stronger cases, address community concerns, and create lasting solutions that enhance public safety.

Below, learn more about our efforts to help create a safer community through specialty dockets like the Drug Treatment Court and the Behavioral Health Docket. These programs offer alternatives to incarceration and are consistent with our commitment to maintaining a safer community.

Specialty Dockets

These dockets help our office meet the unique needs of certain populations, and ensure just outcomes for our community.

Behavioral Health Docket

The Commonwealth Attorney’s Office supports and helped create a Behavioral Health Docket. Participants living in Newport News and Hampton with charges pending in General District Court may apply to participate in the docket. Applicants must have serious mental illness that impairs on life functioning.

Successful participants leave the program more medically stable and having been connected to resources for therapy, housing, and jobs. Successful participants may have their charges reduced or the prosecution ended.

The goal of the program is to reduce the number of times a person with mental illness interacts with the court system as a defendant while reducing potential harms to the community. Victims are consulted about participation before an applicant is accepted.

Drug Court Docket

The Newport News Drug Treatment Court Program is a program that partners with the Hampton-Newport News Community Services Board to provide assistance and treatment to individuals who suffer from substance abuse and addiction, as an alternative to incarceration. These substances may be alcohol, marijuana, opioids, or other narcotics. Participants in the program are individuals who have typically been charged with non-violent crimes such as Larceny, Possession of Drugs, Probation Violations, etc., and are eligible based on certain criteria.

The Drug Court Program is an alternative to active incarceration in jail. Drug Court participants are given counseling, weekly drug screens, and assignments that allow them to understand and overcome their addiction. If needed, the program also assists participants with finding housing, maintaining employment, and seeking treatment for any accompanying mental health concerns. Participants are also required to attend non-adversarial court proceedings on a regular basis to monitor their progress. In attendance is a representative from the Drug Court program, a probation officer, as well as one attorney from the Public Defender’s Office and one from the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office.

While in the program, participants are monitored and assisted by the Community Services Board, as well as the Department of Probation & Parole for the City of Newport News. Participants move through phases, being rewarded as they progress, based on length of time in the program, amount of time substance free, whether they have maintained employment, and completion of assignments. Upon successful completion of the program, participants are released from their probation obligations and there is a graduation ceremony.

The ultimate goal of Drug Court is for the participants to learn how to recognize the triggers in their lives that lead to the use of mood-altering substances, and to navigate through their lives without using them once they have graduated from the program.