Waterville - She just finished serving her first term in the Maine Legislature and now Maeghan Maloney is the new top prosecutor in Kennebec and Somerset counties. She takes over for Evert Fowle who served as the District Attorney for the past eight years before being nominated for a District Court Judgeship by Governor LePage.

After winning in Tuesday's election, Maloney is ready to hit the ground running, starting with a tough new zero tolerance policy on domestic violence. "The penalty for domestic violence assault is five years. Don't settle it for two years. Go after the five years. Take it seriously," Maloney said Friday.

Maloney plans to ask for the maximum penalty in all cases involving violent crimes. Domestic violence accounts for half of the murders committed in Maine, a statistic Maloney is certainly aware of. She plans to be proactive to try to stop it in its tracks. "It has to be a number one priority," she said. "It's very often that before that murder takes place, there has been a domestic violence incident that didn't rise to the level of murder. So we try those cases. We take it to court.

On the other hand, when the crimes committed are misdemeanors, Maloney's focus will be on rehabilitation. She plans to take advantage of programs like the veterans court that she fought for last year during her lone term in the state legislature representing Augusta. "It enables people to definitely pay for their crime," Maloney said. "But it requires a lot to be able to graduate from that program. But it's really looking at when they graduate, making sure they never return to the criminal justice system."

Maloney says she's still needs to finish filling out her staff. The state Attorney General's office has offered to loan the District Attorney's office prosecutors while they get their staff ready to go. "We need to hire three more people. So if people are listening and they want to apply I am happy to receive additional resumes. I do have a stack already."

Maloney takes over the job in January.

Print this Story