Adams now can point to such programs as the Adult Drug Court, which launched circuit-wide at the start of 2008 as an accomplishment of her administration in fighting crime. She said it took a couple of years to complete the funding and the training needed to implement the program, which has been successful in other counties.

Adams said she’s also proud of the juvenile deferred prosecution (or truancy) program, which won a national award as one of the top five programs in the nation. Through the program, which is available to students and their families from elementary school to high school, Adams said absences have generally been reduced from about 20 to 4.5 per school year.

Rhonda Morgan, Victim’s Advocate in the Oconee County sheriff’s Office, said there are other programs in the county that the Solicitor’s Office is participating in that are making a difference. Morgan points to the Criminal Domestic Violence (CVD) Court as an example. She said Adams’ office provides a deputy solicitor to handle CVD cases that go to trial at the Magistrate Court level.