T-L Photo/CARRI GRAHAM Jessica Norris, victims assistance coordinator for the Harrison County Prosecutor's Office, left, speaks with commissioners about recent grant funding for the county's Victims Assistance program during Wednesday's meeting. Also pictured is Commissioner Paul Coffland.

CADIZ — The Harrison County Victims Assistance program lost nearly 40 percent of its grant funding due to a reduction in the state funding.

Jessica Norris, victims assistance coordinator for the Harrison County Prosecutor’s Office, met with the Harrison County Board of Commissioners to discuss the department’s Victims of Crime Act grant funding during Wednesday’s meeting.

Norris said she originally had requested $54,471 but due to decreases in the VOCA funding was awarded $34,733. According to a letter from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office to the county, there was a reduction in VOCA funds this grant cycle that led to the decrease in allotments.

The county will now be responsible for $33,356.39 in local match funding for the program.

“The current requested match will be $33,356.39, which is a difference of $13,416.13,” she said.

Norris requested that commissioners approve $8,339.10 for the program, the local funding for the year’s first quarter which runs from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31.

“With a new prosecutor taking over, I wasn’t sure what their plan will be so just for this quarter I will need the $8,339.10,” she said.

Owen Beetham, prosecuting attorney for the county, said the Victims Assistance program is an important initiative within the prosecutor’s office.

“I think the victim’s advocate is an essential component to a prosecutor’s office. That being said, with passage of that law an additional burden is put on the prosecutor’s office and the judiciary. The state has unfortunately been in the position year after year they’ve continued to cut the match of the grant that they’ve provided,” he said.

In the past, Beetham said, the state grant covered around 80 percent in grant funding for the program; however, in recent years it has continued to decline. Now the match is approximately 50/50 in state to local match funding, he said.

Beetham said he supports Norris’ request for this quarter’s local match funding so the office can continue to provide victims services.

“I will have a successor. We’re not sure who that’s going to be yet, but in the meantime I would like to ask for the requested funding and whoever my successor is they can cross that bridge in the way they will operate the office. But in the meantime I would like to continue to provide that service to the victims of crime and the people of Harrison County,” he said.

Commissioner Don Bethel said he agreed with Beetham. The victims of crimes need access to the services the office provides for them, he said.

Beetham lost a primary election contest in April and can no longer seek re-election. A countywide race for prosecutor will occur between Republican Lauren E. Knight and independent Steven Stickles.

“The victims of crime need to have some type of avenue they can go to for help and for their issues because some of these are long lasting that even if you don’t get injured it can obviously be very traumatic. I truly believe that it is needed, and I’m glad that we can afford it,” Bethel said.

Bethel made a motion to approve the department’s request for $8,339.10 in local funding. Commissioner Paul Coffland seconded the motion. The request was approved. Commissioner Dale Norris was absent from the meeting.

In other county news, the engineer’s office announced that beginning Tuesday, Harrison County Road 13, Blairmont Road, will be closed for a bridge repair.

The bridge is located approximately 0.9 miles south of Short Creek Township Road 71 and approximately 0.5 miles north of the village of Adena corporation limit. The project repairs are estimated to take around four weeks to complete.