EATON — Prosecuting Attorney Eric Marit on Monday, Aug. 12, asked Preble County Commissioners to move the Victim Witness Office out of its current location in a house on S. Cherry Street, citing safety and security as the reason for his request.
He detailed an incident which highlighted the need for more security for the office.
At the time, he noted, only one advocate was present in the office. The second was out on vacation.
“When there’s only one advocate there for safety reasons, we keep the door locked. The doors remain locked,” Marit said.
“There’s a sign that says if you need to speak to us call, everyone has a cell phone and call from outside and we’ll address it. That’s generally been okay. Well, this gentleman started banging on the door quite aggressively, and then proceeded to call the office 13 times in a row back to back,” Marit continued. “At that time, Jenny’s on the phone assisting someone else. She can’t just click over and deal with this. He didn’t leave a message; he called 13 times in a row and then he called over to our main office, yelling, cussing, threatening — things of that nature, very aggressive, all the while beating on the door at Victim Witness when he’s calling our office. He’s sitting on the steps and he won’t leave.”
Marit said the advocate was scared. “I wasn’t in the office at the time. I was up in court. And so I couldn’t go over there and address it. I’ve had some discussions with (them) about things like that. In the future if it happens, they need to call and have law enforcement come over.”
The situation resolved itself, he noted. “No long-lasting effects, but it did sort of spur me to try and put a little bit more emphasis into getting a new space for us. And whatever that looks like, I’ll leave to the board. I’m not going to sit here and say, ‘here’s where they need to be.’ I just I would just like the security. And we are not picky. We don’t care where the space is. I just I just want them for their own safety and peace of mind to be in the courthouse behind security.”
Commissioners advised Marit they had already discussed moving the Victim Witness Office into the former Board of Elections locations on the first floor of the courthouse. Maintenance staff will be pulling up the carpet and shining the original courthouse floors in the space prior to the move.
‘That would be great,” Marit told commissioners. “Anything that could be done would be wonderful. I know they would feel better. I would feel better. And it would take care and alleviate what I believe to be pretty substantial security concern.
No timeline for a potential move was discussed during the meeting.
Reach Eddie Mowen Jr. at 937-683-4061 and follow on X @emowenjr.
