Inland Empire Community Newspapers • July 25, 2013 • Page A9

Ramos appointed Vice President of National District Attorneys Association

By Cynthia Mendoza

On Saturday, July 13, SanBernardino County Dis-trict Attorney Michael A.

Ramos was sworn in as Vice Presi-dent of the National District Attor-neys Association (NDAA) in SanDiego at the organization’s annualsummer conference.As Vice-President of the organi-

zation, Ramos, along with NDAAPresident Henry Garza (District At-torney, Bell County, Texas) andothers will be working on a strate-gic plan to address several commonissues. The organization, whose mem-

bership includes District Attorneysfrom across the United States, isbased in Alexandria, Virginia. TheNDAA was formed in 1950 andrepresents the interests of prosecu-tors and influences federal and na-tional policies affecting lawenforcement and prosecutionacross the country.Ramos, who is in his third term

as District Attorney of SanBernardino County, has served asthe NDAA chair of the Correctionsand Reentry Committee for the pasttwo years. His term as vice presi-dent is three years.“I am honored to be given the op-

portunity to represent the thousandsof elected district attorneys acrossour great nation,” Ramos said. “Myintent is to work with my fellowdistrict attorneys and utilize this po-sition to continue to fight for justiceand victims’ rights at a nationallevel.”According to Ramos, some of the

common issues the group will betackling and creating strategic plansfor are the death penalty, statingthat it has been “attacked” by theAmerican Civil Liberties Union(ACLU), corrections, and morethan anything, coming up with bet-ter ways to serve victims of crime.And some of the common issuesfacing many district attorneys aredealing with prison reform and re-lease, given the number of inmateswho are being released, especiallyin California. “Everyone is watching this state,”

Ramos said about inmate release. Being a part of the NDAA has

also given Ramos the opportunityto network and learn from other ju-risdictions. For example, the newlyformed Crimes Against Peace Offi-cers Unit of the San BernardinoCounty District Attorney was mod-eled after a similar program fromDade County, Florida. And likemost public entities across theboard, another item of discussionand concern that is common tomany district attorney offices is try-ing to deal with tough economictimes and budgets.Ramos is glad to be a part of an

organization that allows for muchlearning and as well as having theopportunity to showcase to otheragencies the programs and successof San Bernardino County. “It’s a great way to find best prac-

tices,” Ramos said about his in-volvement in NDAA. The group will be meeting again

in November in San Antony tostrategize based on the feedbackand input from all participating dis-trict attorneys. For more information on the Na-

tional District Attorneys Associa-tion, visit NDAA.org

PHOTOS/CHRIS LEE

On Saturday, July 13, SanBernardino County District At-torney Michael Ramos was ap-pointed Vice President of theNational District Attorneys As-sociation at a conference inSan Diego. Ramos has servedas the NDAA chair of the Cor-rections and Reentry Commit-tee for the past two years. Histerm as vice president is threeyears.

PHOTOS/CHRIS LEE

From left: National District Attorney Association (NDAA) President Henry Garza (District Attorney,Bell County, Texas), San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, and San BernardinoCounty District Attorney Michael Ramos at the NDAA conference on Saturday, July 13 in SanDiego, where Ramos was appointed vice president of the national organization.