Jun 21, 2021 2 min read

A-G needs to correct audit report

For over 125 years, the Washington County Bar Association has committed itself to “maintaining the honor and dignity of the profession of law … and promoting the due administration of justice.” On June 11, state Auditor General Timothy DeFoor issued a report that wrongly accused our respected jurists, and by connection our association’s members, of failing in that commitment.

However, as District Attorney Gene Vittone and Court Administrator Patrick Grimm have both recognized, Mr. DeFoor made this accusation by doing exactly what attorneys are prohibited from doing: impermissibly changing the words of a statute to fit a narrative. Deliberately removing the word “may” and replacing it with the word “must” in the alternative sentencing statute was brazen and disingenuous. Could you imagine if one of our attorneys misrepresented a statute to a judge in such a way? To the press? To the public?

Mr. Vittone and Mr. Grimm have equally set the record straight regarding both the rule of law that Mr. DeFoor has misrepresented, as well as the success of the Washington County Community Service programs. The WCBA applauds them, and joins in their calls for a correction.

Indeed, the board of directors of the WCBA, as the elected representatives of a membership that boasts over 400 attorneys, stands steadfastly behind our Bench and Bar in the face of these accusations. The community service programs being attacked by Mr. DeFoor help keep recidivism rates low, take stress off our county’s budget by lessening the jail population while also assisting our communities with projects, and force offenders to realize the good that they can do for their neighbor.

We recognize that at least two of our row offices (each run by partisan, non-attorneys) have come under scrutiny recently, and that changes need to be made in both offices. However, simultaneously maligning successful programs and respected attorneys and jurists with misleading information is the antithesis of “maintaining the honor and dignity of the profession of the law.” The board of directors of the WCBA will not stand idly by and allow that to happen to our membership, and we call upon Mr. DeFoor to heed the calls of Mr. Vittone and Mr. Grimm to correct his audit report in these regards.

Todd M. Pappasergi, Esq.

Treasurer, Washington County Bar Association, on behalf of the WCBA Board of Directors