HAMILTON COUNTY, Ohio — “My hair is on fire!”
That’s what Connie Pillich told me when we sat down to discuss her first three months in office.
“It’s very, very busy, and it’s very, very important, and in many times, it's very, very tragic,” she said.
She is the first elected female to hold the high-profile position, and the first Democrat to break the Republican stronghold in the office in nearly a century.
Pillich did not have the prosecutorial experience or the big campaign coffers of her opponent, Republican incumbent Melissa Powers, but she still won with 51% of the vote.
Pillich told me that right out of the gate, her first challenge was staffing.
You can watch the entire one-on-one interview below:
“About a quarter of our 120 attorneys did decide to leave before I took office,” Pillich said.
Those gaps were quickly filled, she said, and her office managed to keep all 30 court rooms staffed.
Flash forward a bit and Pillich has now served as Hamilton County Prosecutor for 100 days.
I asked her what her vision of justice looks like for the county.
"I tell people that it's justice with integrity, and there is a false narrative that I have confronted, especially on the campaign trail and even after getting elected, that equity and public safety are mutually exclusive," said Pillich. "Because they are not, they have to go together. Because if we don't try our cases with integrity and with equity in mind, then we run the risk of sending innocent people to jail and letting guilty people go free and that does not translate into public safety. I want to do it the right way."
Hear what Pillich has to say about the Bengals plea for state funding:
When I asked about expectations versus reality in the role, Pillich said she was surprised by how much of the job happens out of the courthouse.
“I have met with, I would say, three dozen different groups, ranging from community groups that do citizens patrol to nonprofits that try to get kids on the straight and narrow,” she said.
She has also implemented a new training program in the office, one-on-one coaching and topical seminars designed to enhance courtroom skills.
“As far as I know, it has never happened before,” Pillich said. “We are seeing some good results.”
She also introduced a new parental leave policy to make the job more competitive and appealing.
“[It'll] help me attract and retain talented lawyers, because lawyers can go out to the firm, private firms, and make a lot of lot more money, but working here, they can serve the public," she said. "They can often have a great work-life balance, and they can be welcomed and respected."
