Egstad’s focus will be on reducing intimate partner firearm violence in the area by prosecuting relevant offenders in federal district court, while continuing to work full time as a state prosecutor.
Grand Forks Herald
By Sav Kelly
GRAND FORKS — Grand Forks County Assistant State’s Attorney Rachel Egstad has been sworn in as a special assistant U.S. state’s attorney, under the Violence Against Women Act, to prosecute firearm offenses committed in the Grand Forks area by those who have a history of intimate partner violence.
“We view this as a great opportunity,” Grand Forks County State’s Attorney Haley Wamstad told the Herald. “It’ll be a helpful tool in the cases that we prosecute here in state court, because we’ll have those extra federal resources looking at our cases, but then — for those really lethal offenders — the chance to have those folks charged federally, if that’s deemed appropriate.”
The designation of Grand Forks as one of 78 communities that will be working closely with federal law enforcement to address intimate partner gun violence, reported by the Herald in September, will provide an additional avenue for seeking justice, by allowing federal prosecution for some of the criminal cases already coming through state district court, Wamstad said.
The U.S. Department of Justice, through U.S. Attorney’s offices and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Field Divisions, partnered with each jurisdiction to begin developing a plan to reduce intimate partner firearm violence, and prioritize prosecutions of domestic violence offenders who are prohibited from owning firearms, the release said.
“We were really happy to be given this opportunity to serve in this role,” Wamstad said.
After Grand Forks was selected as one of the jurisdictions, the USAO, ATF, Grand Forks County State’s Attorney’s Office, Grand Forks Police Department, Grand Forks County Sheriff’s Office and Community Violence Intervention Center (CVIC) met to discuss how best to implement the initiative, the release said.
The announcement that Egstad will be taking on a new role was made in a Thursday, Nov. 14, press release issued by the District of North Dakota U.S. Attorney’s Office. She will work closely with the aforementioned entities to guide investigations and bring about prosecution when warranted.
The District of North Dakota U.S. Attorney’s Office and Grand Forks County State’s Attorney’s Office collaborated to select Egstad for the job, based on level and relevancy of experience.