<p>Umatilla County assistant district attorney Ashly Crockett will be responsible for prosecuting all of the domestic violence cases in the County.</p>

Victims of domestic violence in Umatilla County have a new advocate, and their abusers a new courtroom foe.

Ashly Hinmon Crockett, 36, joined the Umatilla County District Attorneys Office at the start of October as the sole domestic violence prosecutor. Her boss, District Attorney Dan Primus, recently told county commissioners that Crockett will handle 250 to 300 domestic violence cases a year between courthouses in Pendleton and Hermiston.

I dont know how feasible it is for one deputy to take on all these cases in four courtrooms, he said. Well see how it works.

Crockett said shes up for it.

All through law school I knew I wanted to do criminal prosecution, she said. I think domestic violence prosecution is a very rewarding area. Domestic violence impacts everyone in our community on different levels.

She earned a bachelor’s in anthropology in 2004 from Reed College, Portland. Her life started to take course in 2007-09, when she worked as a domestic violence victims advocate for the Multnomah County Domestic Violence Enhanced Response Team, a multi-disciplinary approach to keep victims safe and hold abusers accountable in high-risk domestic violence cases. Crockett said she worked with victims to understand their lives and troubles and get them help.

The experience prompted her to earn a law degree in 2012 from American University, Washington College of Law, Washington, D.C. She joined the Oregon Bar Association in May. Her hire as a deputy district attorney is her first job as a prosecutor.

Pendleton Police Chief Stuart Roberts said hes pleased the district attorneys office hired Crockett.

Its been a few years since Umatilla County had a dedicated person for domestic violence, he said.

Moreover, not all attorneys have Crocketts depth of understanding of domestic violence and how victims and abusers operate, Roberts said. And that expertise matters when victims dont want to talk about what happened and reveal the pain of their lives.

Mark Royal, director of Umatilla County Community Justice, said tackling domestic violence takes community-wide effort, and Crocketts position is a big step in the right direction. He also said theres a dearth of treatment in the county for dealing with domestic violence, so he would like to see agencies and services team up to help reduce incidents and help people.

Crockett sounds keen for that as well. She said she and Primus have meetings lined up with local law enforcement, womens shelters and others who deal with domestic violence. She said she wants everyone on the same page to provide services.

Part of that work will be to cut down on the 48-day average Primus said it takes his office to file charges after an incident of domestic violence. That means a victim often is living again with their abuser, he said, and that factors into why his office has just a 25 percent conviction rate for domestic violence cases.

Crockett said swift responses to domestic violence from police, the district attorney, advocates and others matters because victims can see the system is working. Thats a positive message for someone who may have felt helpless for a long time, she said.

Crockett grew up in McMinnville and lived in the Portland area. She also speaks Spanish. About a month ago she married her husband, a 17-year veteran of the Portland Police Bureau, who remains on the force there.

Contact Phil Wright at pwright@eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0833.