Missoula County Attorney Kirsten Pabst has announced that she is running for her second term and officially filed for reelection on Friday.

“These last four years have been incredibly gratifying and challenging, and I feel like I need at least another four years to continue some of the work that we’ve done,” Pabst said. “When I ran for the office four years ago, I promised better cooperation, more compassion for the victims that we serve and more conversation and a commitment to more transparency. I’m really proud to say that we’ve reached all those goals. We’ve got a great relationship with our community partners.”

Pabst said she was particularly proud of the development of the Special Victims Unit.

“We now have the model Special Victims Unit that serves victims,” she said. “My team has worked with other communities to help them improve their programs. We’ve instituted a training program and have a new victim witness coordinator and I think we’ve demonstrated our commitment to more transparency by making ourselves available to our constituents through representatives of the media.”

Pabst said she has several major trials to concentrate on in 2018.

“There are some really big trials on the docket this year,” she said. “The Pierce and Standingrock trials should be taking place something this year. Clarissa Hardy and several other criminal trials should be coming up, as well. Our focus is going to continue to be on helping the most vulnerable members of our community, including the disabled, mentally ill and the little children who are the victims of these crimes.”

Pabst said there are still a great many issues to be handled and hopes to be given the chance to continue in office.

Pabst and her chief deputy Jason Marks have been providing the weekly crime report every Friday on the KGVO Radio Talk Back show.

 

 

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