On the Job 

For the past 20 years, Ohio victim advocates have gathered for two days each May to share their skills, passions, and stories of hope and resiliency.

The Ohio Attorney General’s Two Days in May Conference on Victim Assistance (TDIM) has become one of the largest and most comprehensive victim advocacy conferences in the nation.

Domestic violence shelter manager Lorie Delaney knows how important it is for victim advocates to be properly trained. A domestic violence survivor, she now devotes her life to helping women recover at the Project Woman shelter in Springfield.

Delaney attended the ADVANCE Academy’s Basic Advocacy Skills in Crime Victim Services (BASICS) training presented by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office in September. Since then, she has recommended to her executive director that all of her colleagues participate in the five-day program.

Sheriffs are responsible for issuing, renewing, denying, suspending, and revoking Ohioans’ concealed carry licenses. They report these statistics quarterly to the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission, part of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. The office recently issued the 2010 annual report related to the state’s concealed handgun law. Here are some highlights:

Ohio sheriffs issued 60,881 regular concealed carry permits in 2010, including 47,337 new licenses and 13,544 renewal licenses.

Former sheriff heading organized crime commission, Peace Officers' Memorial and more.

Funds are available through the Attorney General’s Office to help sheriffs extradite unregistered sex offenders who have fled the state.

The program, funded by a U.S. Department of Justice grant, is called SORN NET, short for Sex Offender Registration Network Nationwide Extradition Team. It covers up to $2,000 in expenses per trip — including transportation, lodging, meals, and other allowable costs — when local authorities travel out of state to retrieve a sex offender who has failed to register.

Wesley Workman was personable and popular. A gifted football player, he led his Portsmouth High School team in tackles three years in a row and was a 2007 all-state honorable-mention selection.

But there was another side to Wes, says his mother, Jo Anna Krohn.

To reduce turnaround times, the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation’s Laboratory Division is undergoing a comprehensive analysis, hiring additional personnel, and adding more technology.

“As of the end of 2010, law enforcement agencies needing evidence tested for DNA were looking at a total turnaround time of 125 days,” Attorney General Mike DeWine said. “We can — and will — do better than that.”

The Ohio Attorney General’s Office is prepared to help local authorities fight Ohio’s prescription drug abuse epidemic on multiple fronts.

Unintentional drug overdoses killed 1,373 Ohioans in 2009, an average of nearly four a day.

‘The job of the attorney general is to assist local law enforcement — the sheriffs, police, prosecutors, and coroners — in doing their jobs. If we can help them become more effective through the tools we have, then we’re doing our job.’