Page 19 - Delaware Lawyer - Winter 2022

6. THE CRIMINAL DIVISION –
The largest division in the Department of Justice is the criminal section. Delaware, along with Alaska and Rhode Island, does not have locally appointed or elected dis- trict attorneys. All criminal matters are handled by the Attorney General, who hires and assigns Deputy Attorneys Gen- eral throughout the state. There are too many sections to reference all of them, although a few observations are necessary.
The prosecution of cases in Kent and Sussex Counties is no longer con- ducted by small operations. Each county has a Chief Prosecutor, a felony screen- ing unit, a misdemeanor trial unit and a felony trial unit. Younger deputies start out handling minor cases. More experienced deputies will handle felony prosecutions, with some depu- ties responsible for the investigation and prosecution of sensitive cases, like
those involving sexual abuse. In New Castle County, there are units within the criminal division for domestic violence, homicides, violent criminal enterprises, misdemeanor crimes and felony screening. There are other units that deal with appeals, community engagement and traffic safety.
Despite the Department of Justice’s tremendous growth to its present size, it is likely to continue to expand as more responsibilities are placed with it and technology advances. What is reasonable and necessary, such as the use of body cameras, results in an in- creased workload, necessitating further growth. Recordings must be carefully reviewed and privacy protected, tasks that were not in existence even five years ago. While I do not know what lies ahead in the coming years as far as the law is concerned, I am sure of
one thing: the Delaware Department of Justice, i.e. the Attorney General’s office, will be even larger and more expansive in 10 years than it is today.
NOTES
1. The Delaware Bar in the Twentieth Cen- tury, The Delaware State Bar Association, 1994, p. 173. A short history of the modern office of Attorney General through the au- thor’s time as Attorney General is found at pages 175-188.
2. Id. at 175
3. Id. at 175
4. Id. at 178
5. Id. at 182
6. Id. at 186 “In 1960, the office consisted of seven attorneys, including the Attorney General.”
7. Included in the numbers of attorneys are 32 satellite employees. They are Deputy Attorneys General that are assigned to other state agencies. They are on their designated agency’s payroll.
8. The division was the outgrowth of the Office of Civil Rights and Public Trust that had existed in the Department of
Justice since 2015.
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