The following was written by Republican Supervisor Pat Herrity of Springfield District. Pat is the lone Republican on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and recently announced his intention to run for re-election. Sign up to get the Herrity Report here.

At Tuesday’s Board meeting, I made a motion for the Board to review its Trust Policy in light of the murder of Stephanie Minter, as well as other recent events when the policy has prevented Fairfax County law enforcement from collaborating with federal agencies to protect residents from repeat, violent offenders.

Although my motion only called for discussion, rather than specific changes to the policy, not one member of the Board supported the motion.

The Trust Policy prohibits any proactive communication by County employees, including the Sheriff and Police Department, with federal immigration authorities. My motion simply requested a staff review of the policy with a Board discussion, including possible support for residents who may fear reporting a crime due to their immigration status. It did not require an outcome.

This motion followed my comments at our last Safety and Security Committee meeting when I discussed the most recent failure of our Commonwealth’s Attorney to keep our residents safe – the murder of Stephanie Minter by a repeat, violent offender who had over 100 interactions with police and over 30 arrests – including five for malicious wounding and one rape. Several Board members joined me at that meeting in expressing the need to do what we can to address these failures. However, when I presented my motion at the Board meeting Tuesday to have further discussion on the related County policy, not one of my colleagues supported a deeper look at what we could do to keep our communities safer.

In the case of Stephanie Minter, several leaders in our police department resorted to begging the Commonwealth’s Attorney to get her killer off the street, as they were prohibited by the County’s Trust Policy from talking with a federal agency that could have removed the threat from our community.

The problems with our criminal justice system are many:

• The 2021 General Assembly session changes that removed the presumption against bail for violent offenders accused of serious crimes (Herrity Report) and allowed Stephanie Minters killer to be released by the magistrate in January of 2025 after his assault and battery arrest;

•  An incompetent Commonwealth’s Attorney that botches cases and treats violent offenders in the country illegally better than those that are here legally;

•  A Sheriff who has the power and authority to remove violent offenders from our streets but is still refusing to honor the immigration detainer on Stephanie Minter’s killer; and,

• A Board of Supervisors majority that with a simple revision of the Trust Policy could allow the County to get repeat violent offenders out of the community.   

Sadly, this is not the first time a convicted, repeat, violent offender who is in the country illegally has been released into our community and committed additional violent offenses. It is also not the first time that our incompetent Commonwealth’s Attorney has dismissed cases because he failed to notify or subpoena witnesses involving convicted, repeat, violent offenders who are citizens, despite the success of his predecessors in prosecuting cases without witnesses.

Our Board does not have authority to solve many of the problems with our justice system, but we must do what we can do to protect our residents, starting with reviewing the Trust Policy.

Finally, I would ask those that refused to second a discussion that puts public safety ahead of political agendas – if not this then what?