Sean Boone (R)

Sean Boone

• What motivated you to run for district attorney?

  My desire to help future generations enjoy a great quality of life like I had growing up here, and knowing I had the experience to best see this achieved, motivated me to first run for District Attorney in 2018. Being born and raised in Alamance County, my life has been shaped by experiences, people, and places within our county. This connection carries with it an inherent desire to see my home maintain a quality of life that ensures that other children are able to have a similar experience growing up. Upon graduating from UNC School of Law in 1997, I served as an Assistant District Attorney here for over seventeen years. During that time, I learned from more experienced prosecutors in the office about foundational responsibilities of a prosecutor, such as case management, case evaluation, and trying jury trials; I also had the privilege of appearing before many experienced judges, whose examples provided invaluable lessons in how justice is applied in our court system. Since being sworn as District Attorney in 2019, I have applied all the lessons I learned towards working for a quality of life in Alamance County that people will remember fondly.

• What should be the three highest priorities for the Alamance County District Attorney’s Office?

  The highest priority for any District Attorney is to use the resources given to ensure the people are safe. Article 1, section 1 of the North Carolina Constitution states that all persons are endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, the enjoyment of the fruits of their own labor, and the pursuit of happiness. None of these rights, or any others, can be exercised if people are not safe. All people have a right to be safe in their own home. The next highest priority is to ensure that our justice system works fairly for the benefit of everyone. When Alamance County didn’t have enough felony defense attorneys, I worked with our legislators to bring this county its first Public Defender’s office to ensure all people charged with a crime have access to counsel. Another very important priority is maintaining public confidence in our court system. Helping victims of crime and their families is the most direct example of how we work to build confidence; our office has eight staff members dedicated to working with victims of crime to answer questions, provide victim support, and facilitate specific requests to the court about their case.

• The district attorney controls the criminal trial docket. How would you manage the docket to reduce the time between arrest and resolution, and what would you consider an acceptable timeline for a felony case?

  While North Carolina General Statute §7A-61 states the District Attorney shall “prepare” the trial docket, it is nevertheless subject to important factors beyond the prosecutor’s control. For example, statutory and constitutional considerations regarding discovery, defendant representation issues, defendant capacity issues, and procurement of expert witnesses all affect case disposition timing in Superior Court; thus, the presiding judge has broad authority over these matters to ensure a fair hearing for both a defendant and the State, even if it lengthens the timetable. For District Court, the greatest obstacle to efficiency is the lack of court time. Alamance County has had two regularly operating district courts for decades, while our population grew from approximately 124,000 in 1997 to over 183,000 today. In that time, additional responsibilities have been placed onto courts without providing additional resources. For example, the recently enacted Iryna’s Law requires more court time for reviewing bonds, reducing the time available to hear bench trials. But the most critical factor to efficient case disposition is having consistent legal representation for defendants; to this end, my work in bringing a public defender’s office to Alamance County has helped facilitate quicker dispositions.

• How would you exercise charging and plea discretion? Please be specific about which categories of cases you would prioritize for trial and which you would consider for dismissal, deferred prosecution, or diversion.

  Whether advising officers on charges, or making decisions about case disposition, my primary consideration is always the strength of the evidence. This objective standard ensures cases are evaluated on the merits, before considering a particular individual’s situation. A case’s evidentiary strength gives us available options and determines how we can approach disposition. Once we know these options we work with defense counsel to reach an appropriate individualized resolution for each offender, although our sentencing laws establish mandatory sentencing parameters that neither the prosecutor nor the court can change. Because each case is unique, I do not set rules for categories of offenses; the evidence, the applicable sentencing parameters, and the defendant’s desire to resolve the case by plea or by trial determines the ultimate course of the case. Our sentencing laws include deferred prosecutions and diversion programs that can lead to dismissals. These generally apply to lower-level offenses and people with little or no criminal record, and I encourage their use. I worked with my fellow court officials to start our county’s first Recovery Court. Diverting appropriate cases lets us focus our resources on violent offenders while giving hope to offenders trapped in a cycle of addiction and jail.

• How will your office communicate with and support crime victims and their families as cases move through the system?

  During my tenure as District Attorney, our Victim Witness Legal Assistants have consistently provided exceptional victim services and support. From the time a case comes into our office through its disposition, they answer questions, notify victims of case developments, and sit with victims or their families through very intense and difficult trials such as homicide cases and sexual assault cases. I am extremely proud of the work they do; they are as essential to securing justice as the prosecutors who try the case. Our Assistant District Attorneys also work very hard to keep victims informed of case developments, and they often spend time after court ends or after hours contacting and updating victims as needed. Whether a phone call, an email, or a face-to-face exchange, our staff maintains a professional and respectful approach to victims of crime.

• What is your position on specialty courts such as recovery, veterans, or DWI treatment courts in Alamance County?

  I am a strong proponent of utilizing specialty courts. Last year Alamance County started its first ever Recovery Court, and I am proud to have been a part of the courthouse leadership group that worked to make it a reality. In addition to the positive impact they have for individuals who have been trapped in addiction or other destructive situations, such programs also allow us to divert program participants away from our general criminal dockets. By diverting those with non-violent, lower-level offenses away from our regular dockets, our office can focus our finite resources on violent offenses and habitual offenders. I am looking forward to expanding this model to create a veteran’s court in the near future to help those who served our country find a path out of the criminal justice system and build a productive future in the country they defended. Recently I worked with our local bar to start our county’s first Driver’s License Restoration Clinic to help people whose driving privilege was revoked due to a minor traffic violation or unpaid ticket; this past July we held our first clinic and were able to help over 20 people remove obstacles to obtaining a license.

• The district attorney works closely with law enforcement agencies but is also responsible for evaluating officer conduct and disclosing information that bears on an officer’s credibility. How would you keep that relationship both cooperative and independent?

  Serving as a prosecutor for 25 years, and working with local law enforcement in our courts for 29 years, I have had the opportunity to work closely with literally hundreds of law enforcement officers. Many of these officers have risen to supervisory or administrative command positions before retiring; I am honored to be endorsed by over 135 retired officers. The responsibilities of a District Attorney sometimes include reviewing a law enforcement officer’s conduct and making decisions that affect an officer’s career; it is not a duty I take lightly. In these situations, the entire law enforcement community needs to be able to trust the process, but building relationships of respect and trust is not done quickly. Over the last three decades I have developed solid working relationships within all our local law enforcement agencies, and I have earned the respect and trust of our local law enforcement community. My record of working cooperatively with law enforcement is well-established, as is my record of maintaining a necessary level of detachment when addressing issues with officers, be it a credibility issue or other conduct. Keeping this relationship cooperative and independent requires a record like mine that fosters trust and respect.

• How would you recruit and retain assistant district attorneys, investigators, and support staff, given that the office’s resources are largely set in Raleigh?

  While State law sets the number of full-time staff for our office, it cannot determine quality. In every hiring decision, I look for the most qualified candidate for the position and our mission; for example, candidates with strong academic or employment records might successfully complete perfunctory tasks required, but if they lack interpersonal skills then they may not be an appropriate fit to work with victims. I am extremely blessed to work with qualified staff who understand our mission; they are an important part in the recruiting and retention process. We have a very active intern program where law students work in court closely with our Assistant District Attorneys, letting the student and our staff mutually evaluate whether the intern would be a good fit for our office; we have been able to hire qualified former interns when we have had job openings. For all other positions, support staff are heavily involved in the process since they will work closely with whomever is hired, and their input is important in maintaining cohesive work relationships. Surrounding myself with quality people of good character not only helps us attract good candidates, it also creates a positive work environment essential for retention.

• What data about the office’s work — case volumes, disposition times, outcomes, diversion participation — should be published, and how would you make it accessible to residents?

  I believe statistical case data can be a great asset to the public, both because of its transparency and because it provides necessary context for understanding the volume of work our court system does statewide. I would encourage anyone who has an interest in learning more about how our court system works to visit the website for the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts; much of the data about case filings, dispositions, case age, and other offense specific information is currently available to the public on their website. Some larger categories of information are presented in dashboard format, while more detailed data is in Excel form. The information found in Excel files is readily sortable and can be filtered to adjust the amount of data one might want. With the rollout of the e-courts system, I believe this information and more will soon become more accessible and user friendly for the public. Transparency in our judicial system is not limited to accessing information contained in court files; it includes the raw numbers and trends that inform how we might improve court operations. I strongly support efforts to make our data even more accessible to the public.