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Ballard hits ground running first days in office

By LEE WILLIAMS
lwilliams@TheCitizenNews.com

Scott Ballard has never been one to run away from a challenge.

And now that he has taken the helm as the new district attorney for the Griffin Judicial Circuit, he won’t stop now.

Ballard started his first two months in office with a bang.

He dusted off two homicide cases involving a Fayette County businessman and his friend that lay in limbo and announced his plans to take action on them in January.

In February, he turned his attention to a controversial high-profile stabbing case involving a Thomaston banker and announced plans to present the case to the grand jury on March 21.

Ballard did all of this while preparing himself for what could be the biggest trial to hit the county. The case involves two lesbian teens who allegedly killed an elderly Fayette County couple who tried to keep them apart.

Ballard certainly got his feet wet during his first 60 days in office, but his work is far from over. Now, he is working to make headway internally at his offices in Fayette, Upson, Pike and Spalding counties.

“What we’re about is trying to offer whatever assistance we can to law enforcement and in protecting people and that means we’re going to pay particular attention to victims of crime and make sure that we take care of them as best as we can,” Ballard said.

The 45-year-old former defense attorney said he plans to focus on case preparation, strengthen media relations and several other areas at the district attorney’s office.

“The main thing that I want to be able to do is to analyze the cases as soon as we can so that we can take appropriate action,” the Fayette County native said. “Some of the cases can be worked out. Others need to be taken to trial. We need to identify the ones we’re taking to trial as soon as possible so that we can be very well prepared when we get to trial and win those things.”

Ballard plans to tackle several areas during his four-year term, but juvenile cases and drug prosecutions will be his main area of emphasis, he said.

“I have a real passion for both of those areas,” said Ballard, a husband and father of three. “I want to be sure that we provide the drug task force with the best prosecution that we can give and I want to be sure that we take the time with each individual case and find the root of the problem so that we can address it.”

Ballard knows sometimes children get into trouble. Sometimes it’s because they are battling a drug or alcohol addiction, problems at home, or they simply have problems with authority.

But like the old adage goes, Ballard doesn’t want to throw the baby out with the bath water. He wants to find a cause and make a difference in their lives.

“If you’re not careful and if you try to treat all the cases the same way you’ll miss the point and you’ll miss an opportunity to correct the problem,” Ballard said. “If we can give the right attention to each case, identify the root problem and address that, I hope we can cut down on crime down the road and also help some people while we are at it.”