UMATILLA COUNTY
Wednesday, august 17, 2022
HeRMIstOnHeRaLd.COM • A11
Experience matters in the courtroom
three veteran
prosecutors add
depth to umatilla
County da’s Office
BY JOHN TILLMAN
Hermiston Herald
The Umatilla County District
Attorney’s Office is down three
deputy prosecutors, but the re-
turn of three veterans since early
2021 and a new hire have eased
staffing issues.
Daniel Pachico returned
Feb. 1, 2021, as chief deputy for
the DA’s office in Pendleton. Ja-
clyn Jenkins departed from her
service as assistant United State
attorney in Portland and on
April 1 began working again as
chief deputy district attorney out
of the Stafford Hansell Govern-
ment Center in Hermiston. And
Monte Ludington returned
April 15 to his position as senior
deputy in Pendleton.
District Attorney Dan Primus
said the trio boosts the office’s
experience and productivity
“immensely.”
He said his office had been
working with only five of the 10
attorney positions filled.
“Our allotment is 10.5 pros-
ecutors, including myself,” he
said, and now six-and-half at-
torneys are working in the office
and one works remotely.
THE VETERANS
Pachico left the DA’s office
for Legal Aid Services of Ore-
gon in July 2020 because he said
he wanted to work in the com-
munity.
“I didn’t think I’d have to go
against my former deputy col-
leagues,” he said. “It was very im-
portant for me not to do defense
work.”
It was his decision to return to
the DA’s office on Feb. 1, 2021.
“Legal Aid was distanced
during COVID. It didn’t feel like
walking into the office, when
working from home. I missed
Yasser Marte/Hermiston Herald
Monte Ludington, Umatilla County senior deputy district attorney,
works July 21, 2022, in court at the Umatilla County Courthouse, Pend-
leton. He returned to the DA’s office in April after a period in private
practice.
Yasser Marte/Hermiston Herald
Jaclyn Jenkins, Umatilla County chief deputy district attorney, works a case Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022, in front
of Circuit Judge Daniel Hill at the Stafford Hansell Government Center, Hermiston. Jenkins earlier this year
returned to her former DA position after a stint as a federal prosecutor in Portland.
specific people as well. I had a
wonderful boss (in Primus). His
expectations were high, but the
office provided great support,
which made a demanding job
more doable.”
Pachico is slated to work in
the Hermiston office with Jen-
kins, who grew up in Hermiston
and came home to the commu-
nity after law school. She first
joined Umatilla County DA staff
in 2009, and was promoted to
chief deputy in its Hermiston of-
fice in 2015.
In 2019 she was Hermiston
High School’s Distinguished
Alumna of the Year, and left for
the federal post in early 2021.
Umatilla County commissioners
in January voted unanimously
to rehire her in her former po-
sition. Primus said she took the
helm of the Hermiston office on
April 1.
Ludington joined the DA’s of-
fice in February 2011 and in Feb-
ruary 2019 left for private prac-
tice with the Pendleton-based
firm Mautz & O’Hanlon. He also
served as a Pendleton Municipal
Court judge before returning to
the DA’s office in April .
“The dynamics were differ-
ent (in 2019),” Ludington said.
“I was maxed out unless I could
serve as a chief deputy DA.”
He explained that to advance
as a prosecutor, he would have
needed to move, but his wife’s
family lives in Pendleton, and
they love being here. So he opted
for civil practice.
Then the county decided to
change its approach to hiring
deputy DAs, he said.
“We used to hire young dep-
uties, who would get experience
here, then typically leave,” Lud-
ington said. “The county then
tried to get people who want to
be here. Senior deputy DA is not
an easy job, but you’re paid to do
the right thing. This is a fantas-
tic place to work. It was the best
move for my family.”
Ludington also is Pendleton
Little League president.
“I’ve worked with most of
our deputies for a long time,” he
said. “We know and respect each
other. We know our strengths
and support each other. It’s
funny to look back to 2011, at
my first collective bargaining ex-
perience here. The average lifes-
pan of a deputy DA here then
was under two-and-a-half years.”
Now Primus has been here for
more than 10 years, and Jenkins
and Pachico even longer, Lud-
ington said, and other deputies
came here in 2014 or 2015.
The deputies’ experience al-
lows the DA’s office to achieve
just results while best utilizing
county resources, he said.
“Turnover has costs,” he
pointed out. “Younger depu-
ties are paid less, but how many
months does it take to get up
to speed? Then there’s the type
of case they can handle. It takes
time to accumulate the experi-
ence necessary to handle major
cases. Stability is worth the cost.”
THE FRESHMAN PROSECUTOR
Blaire Lakatos is the office’s
newest deputy, also joining the
staff in April. She graduated
from law school in 2020 and was
in Portland before joining Inter-
mountain Public Defender Inc.
in Pendleton for about a year
during the pandemic.
“It was a decent paying job,”
she said. “It did not involve
courtroom work, which I never
envisioned doing. I looked into
joining the DA office, but I’m a
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moderate. I see both sides of is-
sues. With that mentality, would
prosecution be doable?”
Lakatos met Primus, and saw
the veteran senior and chief dep-
uties coming back, which helped
her make up her mind.
“Now I live in a courtroom,”
she said. “In a rural area, you can
get more experience. You may
start with petty theft, but can
soon dive into felonies and do it
all. From the 7:45 a.m. meeting
on, I get support.”
Lakatos credited her col-
leagues with helping transition
her from the defense side.
“They allow me to have dis-
cretion and never be too busy,”
she said. “Even the support staff
are great. The team made it pos-
sible for me to hit the ground
running, since they knew judges
and courtrooms.”
Lakatos said she did enjoy her
year with the public defender.
“I watched the deputy DAs,
and saw how tired they were,
when at their most short-
handed,” she recalled, “yet what
good work they did. Now I’m
very much enjoying working
with them.”
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