The Investigative Services Unit (ISU) was created by this office in 1988, becoming the first such program in any prosecutor's office statewide. ISU has since become a model for other prosecutors by providing the public with independent investigations of alleged official misconduct and officer involved fatality incidents. When requested, ISU provides local law enforcement with assistance and resources with criminal investigations. ISU also provides liaison service for local and out-of-state law enforcement agencies.

This Unit is responsible for Prosecutor's Office employee background investigations, internal affairs investigations, locating trial witnesses who have moved, and serving subpoenas and court orders. More than 45,000 subpoenas are served each year. In 2000, the Unit collaborated with technical staff and law enforcement to establish an electronic subpoena program for commissioned officers. This program resulted in significant savings of staff time and tax dollars.

Chief Criminal Investigator Keith Barnes and Chief Civil Deputy Doug Vanscoy are members of the Pierce County Law and Justice Fair Share Oversight Committee. A vital effort of the committee is to actively monitor the number of high risk violent felony offenders, including sex offenders, being released into our community by the Washington State Department of Corrections, in accordance with Senate Bill 6157. The bill requires that high risk offenders released from confinement with an approved release plan must return to the county of first felony conviction unless there is a valid exception. Barnes and Vanscoy work in coordination with the Department of Corrections to monitor and, when necessary, investigate offenders who are released to Pierce County from other counties. This is to ensure that Pierce County does not get more than its 'fair share' of offenders. See the links below for statistics involving offenders in this category and news articles related tot he 'fair share' concept.

Released offender statistics as of May 2011

News Articles:

Viewpoint: Moving in the wrong direction, 8/4/09

Fair Share proves power of delegation teamwork, 1/20/08

Work-release centers: At last, a fair share of ex-convicts for Pierce County? 1/18/08

Path of least resistance leads back to Pierce, 1/5/08

Now other counties must take ex-convicts, 5/16/07

Return to home page