Page 17 - Delaware Lawyer - Winter 2022

Kathy Jennings, Delaware’s Attorney General
The new legislation further provid- ed for the position of State Solicitor. With the leadership of a State Solici- tor, the civil division and the existing criminal division continued to grow in both numbers and responsibili- ties, and in 1970, W. Laird Stabler, Jr. became the first full-time Attorney General. Additionally, the 1970s saw the creation of a consumer protection position handled by a single Deputy Attorney General, and a felony screen- ing unit was created to screen cases prior to indictment.
While these innovations were cen- tered in New Castle County, the Kent and Sussex County offices remained small. At the time I was hired as a deputy in 1975, Kent County had
two full-time deputies handling all criminal cases. By 1990, the staff had grown to seven deputies with several support staff. In Sussex County, a similar situation prevailed: from the early 1970s until the early 1980s, there were only three or four deputies handling criminal cases.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the Attorney General’s office grew substantially. By the year 2000, the population of the state had increased by nearly a quarter of a million per- sons compared to 1970. The growth in population increased the number of criminal cases throughout Dela- ware and resulted in more civil work as well.
One of the notable changes during this period was the creation of a vic- tim assistance program. Prior to the 1980s, victims were afforded little par- ticipation in the handling of their cas- es, and it wasn’t until the mid-1980s that victims were permitted to appear and speak at sentencing proceedings. Today, the Attorney General’s office has victim-assistance social workers in all three counties. With the passage of the Victims’ Bill of Rights, the scope of victim participation was expanded to include the contacting of victims in cases involving parole, commutations and pardons. This well-intentioned and meaningful law, coupled with the already existing victim/witness con- tacts, has resulted in increasing the numbers of victim-witness person- nel as of 2021 to approximately 25 trained employees.
In 1983, I was elected Attorney General. The growth of the office from the early years of the 20th cen- tury led to there being 133 positions within the Department of Justice that year. That figure included both dep- uties and staff. By 1993, the size of the office had grown by nearly 75%, adding up to 121 attorneys6 and 128 support personnel. Since my depar- ture in early in 1995, the size of the office has continued to dramatically increase. Today the Department of Justice has a total of 515 employ- ees — 242 attorneys and 273 non- attorneys.7 New Castle County has 172 Deputy Attorneys General and 192 non-attorney positions. In Kent County, the numbers are 43 depu- ties and 47 non-attorneys. In Sussex County, the breakdown is 27 attor- neys and 34 non-attorneys. Since the election of current Attorney Gener- al Kathy Jennings in 2018, 32 new positions have been added to the Department.
Societal Changes, Legislation Spurred Growth
The continued growth of the De- partment of Justice is the result of legislative action and societal changes. For example, the large increase in Dela- ware’s population has resulted in more legal matters in both the criminal and civil divisions. As of 2021, Delaware’s population was estimated at approxi- mately 990,000 people, an increase of slightly more than 200,000 in 20 years, bringing the state’s growth since 1970 to nearly 440,000 people.
Today, the Department of Justice has a total of 515 employees — 242 attorneys and 273 non-attorneys.
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