Norfolk will become the first city in Hampton Roads to have a prosecutor working every jailable misdemeanor case. This shift, Commonwealth's Attorney Ramin Fatehi says, will close a longstanding gap in the city’s criminal justice system.
More than 415,000 misdemeanors were charged statewide in 2024, according to state court data. But Fatehi said Virginia provides no state funding for their prosecution, focusing resources exclusively on felonies. Even felony funding covers only about 85 percent of assessed need, according to a2023 study by the National Center for State Courts. In most of Virginia, localities supplement state funds to cover both dockets, but in Hampton Roads, misdemeanor dockets have traditionally gone unstaffed.
Because Virginia is a police-charging state, meaning a magistrate rather than a prosecutor issues charges, misdemeanor cases in Norfolk previously reached court with police officers arguing alongside a defense attorney in front of judge.
"People think that if no prosecutor is present, there are no consequences, but that's never been true," Fatehi said. "Instead, cases sleepwalk through court, victims are sometimes double-victimized, and people who deserve a second chance wind up with records that follow them for life."
The lack of a prosecutor has also meant people such as the unhoused or mentally ill cycle in and out of the system with little chance for diversion, Fatehi said.The local debate over shoplifting last year helped city leaders come up with a plan to address these issues.
The Norfolk City Council approved roughly $900,000 in new funding this year for Fatehi's office, so he can expand his staff from 41 to 50 attorneys and add a non-lawyer director of diversion.
Fatehi said that the new director position directly solves a major roadblock to alternative sentencing.
"A prosecutor will look at a defendant and say this person needs services, but they won't know whom to call," he said, describing the director as a dedicated contact for attorneys to link up defendants with the resources they need.
Six of the nine new attorney positions have already been filled and started this summer, with the remaining hires expected through the fall. With these additions, Fatehi's office now has nearly 100 employees, making it one of the largest Commonwealth's Attorneys' offices in Virginia.
Fatehi said the price tag is well worth it.
"You could not have provided a bigger benefit in both public safety and basic equity and fairness than investing less than 1/1000 of our budget in this initiative,” he said.
He added that having dedicated prosecutors directly aids local police operations, saying that this new investment allows officers to be in the field and not the courtroom.
Other Commonwealth's Attorneys' offices in the region operate on narrower, more selective models.
Virginia Beach Commonwealth's Attorney Colin Stolle, who chairs the compensation committee for the Virginia Association of Commonwealth's Attorneys, explained that the system stems from state rules established decades ago for part-time offices.
"It's created this bizarre funding scheme that I don't think exists anywhere else in the country," Stolle said. "You don't have prosecutors trying to get money from the state for felonies and the same prosecutors trying to get money from the localities for misdemeanors."
While Stolle's office currently handles DUI, domestic violence, weapons offenses and school grounds cases under an agreement with the city, expanding to staffing all Class 1 and Class 2 misdemeanors would require 29 additional attorneys based on state staffing formulas, Stolle said. The city currently provides nine attorneys for misdemeanor work, leaving Virginia Beach with a20-attorney gap that Stolle calculated would cost over $3 million to bridge.
Stolle said Norfolk's move has sparked conversations with Virginia Beach's city manager and police chief, and he plans to request additional positions in his next budget cycle.
"I am not complaining that the city of Virginia Beach doesn't provide the assistance that I need,” Stolle said. “This is just simply a policy decision as to whether we are going to change our approach to providing prosecutors for misdemeanors and not so much an issue of city council or the management doesn't want to do it."
In Chesapeake, Commonwealth's Attorney Matthew Hammel cited the same state study, which found his office would need 10 additional full-time prosecutors to cover all misdemeanors beyond its current focus on domestic violence, DUI, juvenile, firearms and school property cases.
"I applaud the efforts of Mr. Fatehi and the support of the Norfolk City Council in seeking to achieve justice with this increased capacity," Hammel wrote in a statement.
Suffolk Commonwealth's Attorney Narendra Pleas relies on a grant-funded model centered on prosecuting domestic violence, school offenses and DUIs, noting capacity constraints force her office to deny most requests for prosecutors on other misdemeanors.
The Portsmouth Commonwealth's Attorney’s Office spokesperson stated their office could not comment on matters outside its jurisdiction, while offices in Newport News and Hampton did not respond to requests for comment.
Norfolk Public Defender Sherri Carr welcomed the expansion, stating, "We look forward to continued vigorous defense of our clients, and welcome the adversary."
Fatehi's office previously backed the Virginia Access to Justice Act, a stalled legislative effort that would mandate statewide misdemeanor prosecution funding. Expected to be reintroduced in 2027, the bill could reimburse Norfolk for its local commitment if passed.
"The wealth of one city or county shouldn't determine the quality of justice," Fatehi said, adding that he expects other regional offices to follow suit if local budgets allow. "I am confident that, if not every one of my colleagues around Hampton Roads, a significant proportion would very much like to follow suit if their cities provide the money."
