Crime, turnover, modernization top issues in Baltimore County State's Attorney's race ahead of debate

Scott Shellenberger has led the Baltimore County State's Attorney's Office for two decades.  He wants another four-year term and faces two challengers in the Democratic Party primary.  

There are no Republican challengers, so the June 23 primary election will determine the future of the office.

WJZ and The Baltimore Banner will be hosting a debate with the candidates that will stream on CBS News Baltimore at 8 p.m. on Thursday, May 21.

The candidates 

After beating back a tough primary challenger four years ago, veteran Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger now has two prosecutors challenging him for his job.

"I think it's consistency," Shellenberger said of his candidacy. "Having someone in there who knows how to run an office with 64 lawyers who are under me, I think that's really important."

Shellenberger said, "I love my job. I work very, very hard at it, and I'm going to continue to work hard at it and keep the public in Baltimore County safe."

Sarah David, a Deputy Maryland State prosecutor, is winning the fundraising race. 

"We've outraised the incumbent more than five to one," David said. She also noted several endorsements, including that of Governor Wes Moore.

David has extensive experience handling public corruption cases and has been campaigning for more than a year. 

"The best way that you learn how to do new things is by listening to people who have done it a different way, and that's not been what's happening in Baltimore County, and I want to change that," she said.

Another challenger, Lauren Lipscomb, heads the Baltimore City State's Attorney's conviction integrity unit and touted her extensive experience in the courtroom.

"We've got an incredible opportunity here where you have someone with the technical experience, the prosecution experience, the management experience and the leadership experience," Lipscomb said of her candidacy.

She said she wants to create a formal post-trial unit and expand outreach. "You need to be out in the community listening and engaging with community members to find out exactly what the concerns are in the community," Lipscomb told WJZ. 

The issues 

Shellenberger said he is proud of his record and noted that overall violent crime is down in Baltimore County.

"For several years, we've been under 30 homicides each year, and I believe that in Baltimore County, you are very safe," Shellenberger said. 

His challengers said crime and public safety remain serious concerns in Baltimore County. 

"This is not a game, and this is not a bake sale. This is serious stuff. We are talking about the safety of our community," Lipscomb told WJZ. 

David said, "People in Baltimore County really are not feeling as safe as they were feeling years ago, and what they're saying also is that they don't really know what is happening. A lot of times, they'll mention a crime that happened in their neighborhood or that happened to a friend, and they'll say we don't know what happened. So, that's where information and data tracking is really helpful."

Shellenberger's opponents criticized the lack of data being kept and shared with the public. 

They also said turnover in the office is too high and believe the state's attorney needs better community outreach and modernization.

"At some point, there's an apathy that sets in, and so that's what I see is going on right now with the incumbent and the current status of the state's attorney's office," Lipscomb said. "It's that you've got sort of a stagnation that has occurred, and then, it's really sort of a product of 'We've always done it this way, so let's just keep on doing it this way.' Well, that's not going to work. Baltimore County is in crisis."

For David, "Modernization means an office that reflects a modern concept of prosecution as opposed to being a reactive office where you take cases, you prosecute them, charge them—just that. All the other state's attorney's offices engage in crime prevention."

Shellenberger said he's heard the criticism.

"I can assure you and your viewers, we are extremely modern. Right here on my waist is a cell phone. I get calls 24 hours, seven days a week," he said. "…You come to one of the closing arguments, you see these PowerPoints with surveillance video and cell phone downloads. We are in an extremely modern office, and we're doing everything the way we're supposed to do it."

WJZ asked all three candidates about handling juvenile crime, another hot topic in the race. 

"I envision a juvenile division of the state's attorney's office that's no longer a training ground. It's a unit of prosecutors who are actually committed to the juvenile justice program," David said. 

Lipscomb said, "The time to resolve the issues with the juvenile system is not when we're looking at carjacked victims or a body on the ground.

And incumbent Shellenberger told WJZ, "With the early low-level crimes, get them help, do everything you can to help them and their family, but once you start committing adult crimes, you need to be treated like an adult."

Shellenberger's opponents have criticized his handling of sexual assault cases.

"There's a lack of formal protocol related to how charges are reviewed for sex offense and domestic violence cases," Lipscomb said. 

David told WJZ, "We have all these rape kits in Baltimore County. For a while, they weren't being tested. Now, there are issues with how they're being investigated, and in other jurisdictions, we've seen state's attorneys take the helm and say we are going to get people together to solve this issue to make sure that we are investigating these cases."

Shellenberger defended the handling of sexual assault cases. "We work really hard on those cases. I have five experienced prosecutors who are leading that unit and handle nothing but those kinds of cases," he said. 

Baltimore County has only elected two different state's attorneys since 1975.