City News
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
February 15, 2012
Helivi Holland Appointed as New City Attorney
SUFFOLK,VIRGINIA(February 15, 2012) - The Suffolk City Council has appointed Suffolk native Helivi L. Holland as the new City Attorney, and advise that she will start in her new position on March 16th. City Council will ratify the appointment on March 7th, and the investiture is scheduled for March 16th. Ms. Holland replaces C. Edward Roettger, Jr., who retired on December 1, 2011 following over 18 years of service to the City.
Holland has been the Director of the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) since her appointment in 2010 by Governor Bob McDonnell. There she was tasked with overseeing 2,200 state employees, three halfway houses in Staunton, Roanoke and Norfolk, as well as nine residential programs.
She graduated from John F. Kennedy High School and Virginia Tech, as well as the College of William and Mary, Marshall-Wythe School of Law. As a practicing attorney in the Commonwealth since 1991, Ms. Holland has served in the legal community as a senior prosecutor, an adjunct professor, a deputy city attorney and as a guardian ad litem.
As a prosecutor for more than ten years, Ms. Holland served in the Portsmouth and Suffolk Offices of the Commonwealth's Attorney. In addition to writing and managing grants in each office, she prosecuted major juvenile crimes in Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court and Circuit Court. Her prosecutorial style and training skills on criminal prosecution earned her the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice's Victim Assistance Award and the NOBLE National Lloyd Sealy Award and the Community Services Award for the Commonwealth of Virginia.
For more than 12 years, Ms. Holland served as an adjunct professor at Paul D. Camp Community College. She taught on two campuses as well as at a correctional facility of the Virginia Department of Corrections.
The City Attorney's Office will be quite familiar to Ms. Holland, who served as Deputy City Attorney for the City of Suffolk prior to her appointment to head the state DJJ. In that capacity, she appeared weekly in Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court representing the Suffolk Department of Social Services in child welfare cases. Additionally, she supervised all of the assistant city attorneys and support staff of the Office of the City Attorney, wrote and managed the office's budget, represented the Department of Human Resources, served on the Management Advisory Team of the City and served as the liaison to the courts of the City. She remains qualified as a guardian ad litem.
With all of her obligations, Ms. Holland still finds time to stay active in the community, having served on the board of directors of The Children's Center, Suffolk Education Foundation, Suffolk Chapter of the American Red Cross and the Genieve Shelter. She regularly speaks and trains on various subjects of law relating to juvenile crimes, domestic violence, child welfare, juvenile delinquency and juvenile re-entry. Additionally, she is a proud member of First Baptist Church, Mahan Street, in Suffolk, and a Diamond Life Member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. in the Suffolk Alumnae Chapter.
When asked about Ms. Holland's appointment, Mayor Linda T. Johnson advised, "We are delighted that Helivi has come home to Suffolk. Her reputation as a well-respected attorney and her extraordinary accomplishments and service to Virginia's citizens are to be commended. We couldn't be more thrilled to have her back in our community where she can continue to make a difference."
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