Regional prosecutor won't run next year

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ELIZABETH SCHEIBEL

NORTHAMPTON - After 16 years as the top law enforcement official in Hampshire and Franklin counties, Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth D. Scheibel announced Tuesday she won't seek re-election next year.

Scheibel, 54, of South Hadley, said family and close friends have known since her last re-election in 2006 that this would be her final term in office. She began her career as a prosecutor in 1980 in Hampden County.

"It was like the stars were aligned to have it be 30 years as a point to conclude my work as a prosecutor," Scheibel said in a phone interview Tuesday.

Scheibel came to Hampshire County in 1988 as first assistant to then-Northwestern District Attorney Judd Carhart.

In 1993, Gov. William Weld picked her to succeed Carhart, who became a Superior Court judge. The appointment made Scheibel the state's first woman district attorney.

A Republican, she was elected to the post in 1994, and has been re-elected in uncontested elections ever since.

Next year would have marked the first contested race for the district attorney's seat since 1982. Easthampton Democrat David Sullivan, currently Hampshire County's register of Probate and Family Court, plans to run for the office.

"I think District Attorney Scheibel has had a very good career, and I wish her the best as she looks to the future," Sullivan said by phone Tuesday.

Sullivan said he admires, and hopes to build on, Scheibel's work on prevention and prosecution of domestic violence and child abuse.

In a statement, Scheibel touted several programs she's overseen during her tenure, including crime-prevention education for elders through Seniors and Law Enforcement Together, juvenile delinquency prevention, and crisis intervention techniques for people with mental health or substance abuse problems.

Recent initiatives include training for police and emergency responders dealing with distressed veterans and launching legislation to protect the elderly and disabled from sexual abuse.

"I've had a very varied experience and background, and I wouldn't have traded any of it for the world," Scheibel said in an interview.

With 18 months still in her term as district attorney, Scheibel said she will remain focused on the work immediately at hand. She said her future plans are indefinite.

"I'm not going to rule out anything," she said, adding retirement ranks fairly low on her list of possibilities.

Scheibel has come under strong criticism recently from some constituents and even a Superior Court judge for her handling of certain cases.

Supporters of stabbing suspect Jason Vassell, an African American and former University of Massachusetts student, have accused Scheibel's office of racial bias.

Last month Judge John Agostini railed against Scheibel's office for its protracted investigation into an alleged break-in at the Franklin/Hampshire Juvenile Court in Hadley. Agostini called allegations of wrongdoing against Clerk Magistrate Christopher Reavey in the so-called "pottygate" case "a public ambush ... for public consumption."

Based in Northampton, the Northwestern District Attorney's Office oversees criminal prosecutions in 47 cities and towns. The office is staffed by about 100 employees, including some 30 attorneys and a state police detective investigative unit. The annual salaries of the state's 11 district attorneys, set by the state Legislature, stands at $148,843.

James F. Lowe can be reached at jlowe@gazettenet.com.