NEWS & HEADLINES

Ada County Prosecutor receives 2020 Joyce Stein Memorial Award

We’re so honored to announce that Ada County Prosecutor Jan M. Bennetts is the 2020 recipient of the Women’s and Children’s Alliance Joyce Stein Memorial Award. This award is given in memory of Boisean Joyce Stein, a long-time supporter of the WCA. Each year a person in the community who has made a positive impact on the growth and advancement of women is honored.

“Jan’s receiving this Joyce Stein honor and recognition from her peers on the (WCA) board because of her dedication and work in her role as Ada County Prosecutor, which benefits the WCA’s mission, and growth and advancement of women beyond measure,” said Stephanie Westermeier, WCA Board of Directors President, during Tuesday’s virtual Tribute to Women in Industry (TWIN) ceremony hosted by the WCA.

“As Ada County Prosecutor, there are simply not enough hours in the day for Jan, who is one of the hardest working prosecutors a community could ever hope to have,” Westermeier said. “She unfortunately deals with some of the most unthinkable issues, including those associated with domestic violence and abuse, and daily and continually Jan endeavors to raise awareness of and personally address the vicious cycle of abuse.”

“Jan’s grit, strength and tenacity, fueled by her continuous desire to make this community better for women and for all its residents, is nothing short of inspiring to me and to all who know her,” she said.

“I cannot begin to express how much this very prestigious award means to me. I have always held a special place in my heart for the WCA since I began my career as a deputy prosecutor over 25 years ago,” said Jan M. Bennetts, Ada County Prosecutor.

Years before Jan became a WCA board member, she spent time in the WCA’s club room listening to domestic violence victims and their experiences so she could become a more effective prosecutor and knowledgeable about what she could do to help victims.

“Those victims welcomed me into their RAP sessions where they shared experiences with each other and with me. They trusted me with what they had experienced at the hands of their abusers, how it had impacted them, and how they dealt with those impacts,” she said. “The courage they demonstrated in sharing their experiences with me so that I could better help victims in my work was not lost on me and I have never forgotten it. I have always been humbled by the courage of crime victims who have gone through so much trauma but who work so hard to come out on the other side stronger.”

“It is such a privilege and such an honor to have served in my role as a prosecutor and now also as a WCA board member. The WCA has always been a resource for domestic violence victims, but I have been so fortunate that it has also been a source of personal and professional growth for me. Those experiences have shaped me as a prosecutor and as a fierce and passionate advocate for crime victims,” Bennetts said.

Principles of Freedom Podcast

August 29, 2020

Jan visited with S. Max Brown and talked about the role of Prosecutor in the community. She shared statistics on what is happening in Ada County and her role as a leader.

Program offers students an inside look at the Ada County Prosecutor's Office

By TOMMY SIMMONS tsimmons@idahopress.com

When Abigail Spencer was a freshman in high school, the father of one of her friends got pulled over by a police officer while driving. He had a stereotypically Spanish-sounding name, she remembered, and, because of that, she said she believes the police officer questioned him more intensively, even after the man had produced a green card.

That incident was one reason Spencer, now a senior at Timberline High School, decided she wanted to become a lawyer — and specialize in immigration or family law, in order to “affect change and make that a more fair system,” she said Tuesday.

Bennetts said she knew she’d wanted to do some sort of outreach of that ilk for a while, she said, but decided it would be a good opportunity to work with 4-H after a group of 4-H students spoke at a county budget hearing in June.

There were moments of levity on Tuesday morning — for instance, the group got to meet Yuko, the office’s courthouse dog. The yellow Labrador retriever is trained to work with victims to help soothe their nerves, but he’s also popular with the office’s employees — and the students enjoyed the chance to pose for pictures with him.

But Bennetts and her staff were also honest with the group about the serious realities of the office’s day-to-day work. Bennetts administered an oath of office to the students, swearing them in as honorary prosecutors for the day. Part of the reason she did that was because she wanted them to understand the seriousness that comes with the job. Read more here.

Ada County Courthouse adjusts operations amid coronavirus pandemic

The Ada County Prosecutor's Office says its main focus is to keep the workers and the public safe. They are currently at reduced operations to maximize social distancing.

“Our goal has been to reduce exposure, setting up technology so we can do work that way," said Ada County Prosecutor Jan Bennetts. "That means not bringing juries in, not bringing groups of people into the courthouse. We are at reduced operations and seeing reduced caseloads."

While they are delaying a lot of trials, Bennetts says they are still moving forward with the most severe cases. Read more here.

Challis native helps students learn about law

The Messenger, May 2, 2019

Ada County Prosecuting Attorney Jan Bennetts spoke to Erika Cotant’s gifted reading class at Challis Elementary School in April.

The students had read John Grisham’s novel “Theodore Boone Kid Lawyer.” This year students in the gifted reading class have learned about the Constitution and they wanted to learn more about law. Grisham’s novel really developed their curiosity, Cotant said.

Luckily, Bennetts was able to fit the classroom visit into her schedule. She discussed jury selection and the chain of evidence in a trial. The students loved all the new information she shared with them, Cotant said.

Bennetts has been the prosecuting attorney in Ada County since November 2014. Prior to that, she was a deputy Ada County prosecutor for 20 years. Bennetts grew up in Challis and graduated from Challis High School.

She told the students she loves to help her childhood community and was thrilled at the opportunity to teach students about law. Bennetts also helped the students prepare for their April 8 mock trial. Her knowledge of law eased the class into the trial by making the students more aware of what to expect, Cotant said.

A view from the streets to the courtroom: Idaho judges are getting it right

Idaho Statesman, Guest Opinion, October 20, 2018

There’s been a lot said about Idaho’s prison population, most recently in the Idaho Statesman article published on Oct. 3.

What Idaho’s prosecutors and law enforcement agencies want is for you to be safe. We want the Idaho Department of Correction to have resources and treatment programs needed to rehabilitate inmates. We want inmates who are a danger to the public not to be released until they no longer pose a risk to the public.

Identifying offenders who represent a risk to the community cannot be accomplished by generalizations, which label certain offenders “nonviolent.” Each case is unique. It is irresponsible for the criminal justice system to look only at the crime of conviction when assessing the risk an offender poses to the community.

Every study of Idaho’s prison population has repeatedly shown that Idaho’s judges are getting that assessment right.

How the Ada County Prosecuting Attorney's Office helps victims in an ever-busier system

By Tommy Simmons, September 6, 2018

When Shelly Parker stepped out of the elevator on the ground floor of the Ada County Courthouse last week, she recognized the woman who came up to her. She’d been listed as a victim in a domestic violence case the Ada County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office is handling. Parker, as the office’s victim-witness administrator, had spoken with her before, but, as sometimes happens, the woman didn’t want to talk to her or to prosecutors.

Last week, though, the woman changed her mind. She asked for help. So Parker began working with her just as she has with victims of crime in Ada County for the past 30 years.

“She always said, ‘I don’t deserve this (help),’” Parker said. “I’d say, ‘Of course you deserve this. It’s just a process, and you were in a different part of the process.’”

Parker leads the prosecutor’s team of victim-witness coordinators, which includes eight coordinators right now. At the start of fiscal year 2019, the office will add a ninth coordinator.

That’s a response to an increased caseload in Ada County; on average, Parker estimated each coordinator works on 120 to 150 cases a year. With felony case filings in the county up 67 percent from 2013, the office likely will need more coordinators in the years to come.

By law, prosecutors’ offices in Idaho have to provide victims of crimes with certain basic services. That means letting them know about court dates, letting them know about potential plea offers and notifying them of their right to speak in court. But most prosecutors’ offices, Ada’s included, do more than that.

“We take (the law) as a foundation, and we build on it,” said Ada County Prosecutor Jan Bennetts.

That’s why her office employs Parker and her team.

Idaho Business Review Feature

By Stephanie Schaerr Hansen, February 13, 2018

When Jan M. Bennetts joined the Ada County prosecutor’s office in 1994 and began fighting for crime victims, she knew she’d found her life’s calling.

“I never looked back from that moment forward,” she says. “I was all in.”

More than 20 years later, last November, Bennetts was sworn in as the first female prosecuting attorney in the county’s history, a culmination of her tireless work trying cases ranging from child abuse and domestic violence to homicide and robbery. She’s handled several death penalty cases in her time at the prosecutor’s office, which she says were among the most difficult of her career.

Though the work can be mentally and emotionally trying, to Bennetts, there is nothing more rewarding than helping crime victims navigate the criminal justice system and come out on the other side. After so many years as a prosecutor, she’s seen dramatic changes in the lives of victims she’s touched and loves when they reach out to let her know how they’re doing.

“I carry a lot of the victims around in my heart,” she says. “I care about them, I think about them and I remember their names.”

In fact, Bennetts was instrumental in bringing together law enforcement, medical professionals, victim advocates and social services together to create the Ada County FACES of Hope Victim Center, a facility where victims in crisis can access resources in one location without needing to drive from place to place for services. Today, she serves as vice president for the Women and Children’s Alliance, and is well respected in the community for her service.

“Jan has always represented a beam of hope and light in a dark world where so many need an advocate,” says J. Thomas “Tommy” Ahlquist, chief operating officer of Gardner Company, who met Bennetts while working as an emergency room physician. “Thousands of victims and their families have been served with care and compassion because of Jan Bennetts.”

Those thoughts are echoed by her allies in law enforcement.

“Bennetts is an exceptional advocate for some of the most vulnerable members in our community, and I can think of no better person to lead the charge,” says Richard Allen, Garden City chief of police.

Growing up on a ranch in Challis, Bennetts learned the value of hard work. Since she was very young, she says, she’s had extremely high expectations of herself, which is still what motivates her to this day.

After graduating from Willamette University College of Law, she completed a clerkship with Judge Thomas Nelson at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Boise. She says the criminal case transcripts she would read called to her during that time, and she immediately joined the Ada County prosecutor’s office after her clerkship ended. Today, as she leads the 150 or so lawyers, victim advocates and support staff of the office, she hopes to be a leader her staff can look to for strength and guidance as they tackle the challenges of their work.

“To lead the people who do what we do is very much a privilege and an honor,” she says. “I feel like it’s bigger than me.”