Mark Sorsaia

“I never dreamed I’d become a prosecuting attorney,” said Mark Sorsaia, one of West Virginia’s most prominent prosecutors, and a member of NDAA’s Board of Directors. During the first several years of his legal career, Sorsaia went back and forth between private practice and public service. Before he found himself in prosecution, Sorsaia worked as a private lawyer until a county judge asked that he take criminal cases representing indigent defendants. In those days there were very few lawyers in his county, and Sorsaia stated, “We felt there was an ethical obligation to do our share of criminal court appointments.” It was through this experience that he became interested in criminal law, leading him to secure a part-time job as an assistant prosecuting attorney.

Even though being a part-time prosecutor was the least financially rewarding part of his practice, it gave him the greatest amount of personal satisfaction. As an assistant prosecuting attorney Sorsaia, participated in the creation of one of the first multidisciplinary teams in West Virginia to specialize in the investigation and prosecution of crimes against children. This involvement in the prosecution of child abuse cases inspired Sorsaia and instilled within him a dedication to the profession.

But, despite his desire to continue his work in prosecution, the young father made a financial decision to return to full-time private practice and left the prosecuting attorney’s office in 1992, only to discover that his heart belonged to public service. After a significant amount of soul searching and family discussions, Sorsaia returned to prosecution by being elected Putnam County prosecuting attorney in 1996. Today he continues to manage that office.

Putnam County is one of the fastest growing counties in West Virginia, located between the two largest cities in the state. “We went from a farming community, to a bedroom community, to a commercial community in about 25 years,” says Sorsaia. The unprecedented growth of Putnam County has forced the prosecuting attorney’s office and law enforcement community to grow as well. “We have been blessed with one of the fastest growing communities in West Virginia, but we have also had to adjust to not being a quiet rural community where you do not have to ever lock the front door. We are now a metropolitan area and crime rates have adjusted accordingly.” Since Sorsaia took office in 1997, the Putnam County Prosecutor’s Office has doubled in budget and size to respond to community growth.

The most significant issue Sorsaia has witnessed during his time as the elected prosecuting attorney has been the growth of the methamphetamine problem. Putnam County was hit hard by the meth epidemic. It was one of the leading counties in the state with felony meth lab prosecutions and was even on the national radar screen in terms of the number of meth labs found in the county. There was a 55 percent increase in felony prosecutions in the year of 2004 alone. “There was a time when we would discover three to five meth labs in a single week,” says Sorsaia. In response to this problem, the legislature and governor took action to limit the availability of precursor chemicals used to manufacture methamphetamine. Today, the problems associated with methamphetamine have subsided but not disappeared.

As the elected prosecuting attorney, Sorsaia personally deals with the county’s homicide cases and spends the remainder of his time preoccupied with managing the office. He takes pride in the victim advocacy program offered by his office. His empathetic nature seems to be what makes Sorsaia a great prosecutor. He says, “I can never forget the families who I witness suffer through the ordeal of being victims of a violent crime. You develop relationships with victims’ families, you watch them hurt, and despite how hard you try to avoid it, a part of you will hurt with them. You have to separate yourself from it to a certain degree, or you will not be able to last in this profession.”

Sorsaia is also an active member of NDAA. He is currently serving his second term as West Virginia’s state director on NDAA’s Board of Directors. He has been working tirelessly in the organizational effort to secure funding for NDAA’s training programs at the National Advocacy Center (NAC) in South Carolina. “As a West Virginia prosecutor,” Sorsaia claims, “I realize how valuable our programs at the NAC are for rural prosecutors. I have been blessed to be in a county with a good tax base and financial growth, but there are a lot of fellow prosecutors in rural counties that struggle financially. Without our programs at the NAC, these prosecutors wouldn’t have the opportunity to participate in that kind of training.” Due to his interest in prosecutor training, Sorsaia was recently honored by NDAA President Mat Heck, by being appointed to the Board of Regents of the National College of District Attorneys, and by being given NDAA’s 2007 President’s Award for his efforts in helping to secure NAC funding.

Sorsaia and his wife, Cynthia, have two children. Cynthia teaches first grade at a local elementary school. During his free time he enjoys gardening and yard work, cooking and keeping up with his children’s sporting events. When he can get away, he enjoys going trout fishing and hiking around the mountains of West Virginia.

Sorsaia says that one of the best things about being a prosecutor is the camaraderie. “When you’re a prosecutor you can go into a room of prosecutors who you have not previously met, and you can still feel like none of them are strangers. There’s a fellowship and a bond that’s unspoken.” He has a special appreciation for individuals who become prosecutors. “The fellowship we experience with each other is not necessary based on what we do. I believe it naturally happens because of the kind of people the profession attracts—individuals who are committed to public service, personal and professional ethics, and dedicate their professional future towards protecting the quality of life in their local community. That is the kind of person who would naturally have a big heart, and would place a high value on their family and their friends. In my opinion the greatest personal blessing you get from this job is the great friendships you make that you can keep a lifetime.”

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