Case closed for a champion of victims

For decades the Victim/Witness Program in the Ozaukee County District Attorney’s Office has been the one place crime victims can go for help and answers when their cases come to trial and Beth Hodorowski has been the person primarily responsible for helping them navigate that process.

After 30 years, last Friday was Hodorowski’s last day as the Victim/Witness Coordinator, overseeing the care of crime victims throughout the county.

A survey of Ozaukee County residents some years ago asked what was the most valued service provided by the county.

“Victim rights was No. 1,” Hodorowski’s boss, District Attorney Adam Gerol, said. “Beth has handled the job with a high degree of excellence forever. Within her own field she is well-recognized as a leader and innovator.”

A Milwaukee native who moved to Mequon with her husband, Kim, in the early 1980s, Hodorowski earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice management from Concordia University Wisconsin and soon went to work for  Ozaukee County District Attorney Mark Williams as a legal assistant.

She left for a few years to work for defense attorney Gerry Boyle, who was known to take on high profile cases, including serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer after Hodorowski left.

“That was sort of like changing religions,” she said.

Then she left Boyle to work at the Board of Attorneys Professional Responsibility in Milwaukee before returning to the DA’s Office in 1990 to work for Sandy Williams, who today is an Ozaukee County Circuit Court judge.

While a lot of things have changed in the office over her 30 years, one thing has not: It had just two employees when she started and it still has two staff members today and will continue that way.

Lisa Haasch is succeeding Hodorowski, having been the program’s assistant for nearly 10 years before leaving five years ago to work in the Child Support Enforcement Program in the county Corporation Counsel Office. 

Jill Nitschke is staying on as the program’s assistant.

But in those 30 years, the number of cases the program deals with has dramatically increased.

Hodorowski estimated that the office helps about 600 new victims every year and several hundred more witnesses.

“Almost every crime has a victim, with the exception of some traffic crimes,” she said. “I feel strongly that the program is a great part of the system.”

Hodorowski said the number of people the office serves has increased greatly, as have the number and severity of the crimes.

“Crime seems more complex now. People seem angrier. There are so many more horrific things going on,” she said. 

A major reason for that increase is state legislation that mandated that services be extended to all victims of crimes and witnesses to keep them informed during the prosecutorial process, protect them from harassment, make sure their needs and views are shared with prosecutors and judges, that they receive restitution and that they are provided or referred to needed services.

Ozaukee County had a victim/witness coordinator before it was mandated.

“Beth goes back to one of the very first coordinators before the law was created,” Gerol said. “Beth didn’t have to change one thing (when the law went into effect).”

“People who have been victimized have no control over what has happened to them,” Hodorowski said. “It causes so much emotional and physical pain. It’s important that there’s a place where they can get answers, understand what’s happening in the legal process and participate in the process and get support and understanding.

“The courts didn’t take (victim’s rights) very seriously all the time, but now they (victims) are part of the process,” she said.

Hodorowski’s last case was one of the busiest as victim/witness coordinator. Cedarburg restaurateur Jacob Banas was found guilty last week of drugging a woman at his restaurant. Seven other women testified that they believed Banas also had drugged them.

In all, about 20 women claimed to be victims.

It was Hodorowsi’s job to manage those witnesses, escort them in and out of the courtroom and otherwise take care of them as they delivered sometimes emotional and gutwrenching testimony.

Gerol, who prosecuted the Banas case, said it helped tremendously to know Hodorowski was working with victims and witnesses.

“We tried so many cases together with awful facts and tons of witnesses. I’m in the courtroom doing my thing and I have that confidence that she’s outside the courtroom doing hers. It was wonderful working with her,” he said.

“The role helping victims navigate that terrible turf and trying not to victimize them again — it’s a tough job dealing with people when they’re at their most vulnerable.”

“When victims come to see us initially, they’re in turmoil, in crisis mode. They’re not themselves. They can be angry and short tempered,” Hodorowski said. “As the process moves forward we get to know each other and they start to trust me.” 

Her favorite part of the job is when a case is resolved, she said.

“When a case is closed, people often say they’re taking my phone off their list and hope they don’t see me again. I totally get that,” she said.

Cases don’t always end happily, of course. 

“(Victims) often have high expectations about what should happen,” she said. “They think people should just be sent to prison.”

But many cases end in probation.

“That can be hard. You often hear, the phrase, ‘a slap on the hand.’”

The worst part of her job were the times she had to inform people there wasn’t enough evidence to prosecute a case, she said.

“Like when there’s a serious accident and someone died, but no one was drunk; it was just an accident. That’s difficult for families to understand. People want justice and they want to blame someone. But not every case has probable cause,” she said.

  Sandy Williams said Hodorowski was specially gifted for her job as program coordinator.

“When I was in the DA’s office, I referred to her as the Angel of the DA’s office. She always took whatever time was necessary to answer victims’ questions, concerns and explain how the system worked in a way that made sense to victims,” Williams said in an email.  

“Beth has a knack of being able to give information and comfort to victims of crimes while zealously fighting for and protecting victims’ rights.”

Like Gerol, Williams praised Hodorowski’s organizational skills and attention to detail in order to adequately represent victims.

“She created many systems within the DA’s office in order that victims would never be overlooked,” Williams said. “Her organizational skills made every lawyer in the office confident that trials and/or sentencing hearings would go smoothly – you never had to wonder if your witness and/or victim would show up.

“In some cases, the victims’ stories/experience were horrible due to the nature of the crime, yet Beth was able to give them attention and always treated them with dignity and respect, which allowed them to  navigate through the criminal justice system without further trauma or humiliation.”

Haasch and Nitschke agreed.

“Beth is a caring and compassionate person who truly cares about victim’s rights,” Haasch said. “She was an amazing boss and made it easy to come to work every day.”

“(When) I listened to others complain about their jobs, I couldn’t help but think of how fortunate I was to work with someone that made me like coming to work,” Nitschke said. “The citizens of Ozaukee County were lucky to have her. 

Hodorowski said she has no specific plans for her retirement, other than to spend more time with her husband, who also is retiring, and her twin grandsons, Logan and Sawyer.

“It’s time to change the person I’ve become and enjoy my family and friends,” she said. “I look forward to days without chaos and drama.”