The Richmond Times-Dispatch wrote: “As a military officer, a prosecutor, and a member of the General Assembly, McDonnell has been a true public servant. During his seven terms in the House of Delegates he led the charge for some of Virginia's most significant legislative progress: parole abolition, welfare-to-work, tougher sentencing for drug crimes, juvenile justice reform, and adding merit to the selection and retention of state judges. McDonnell boasts a legacy of action and results -- qualities essential in the Attorney General's office.” (editorial, Nov. 5, 2005)
Experience in the Armed Forces
As one of five children in a working class home, Attorney General McDonnell was able to afford college through a full Army ROTC scholarship and signing up for active duty in the military. This was at the encouragement of his father, John F. McDonnell, who retired as a Lt. Colonel in the Army Air Corps after fighting in World War II with an 8th Air Force bomber squadron in England.
Serving in the military during the height of the Cold War, Attorney General McDonnell helped train American troops to reinforce NATO forces serving in West Germany. Attorney General McDonnell went on active duty in October 1976, reporting for basic training in Texas before being commissioned and deployed in January 1977 to Grafenwöhr, Germany, in NATO’s southern zone of occupation. Attorney General McDonnell was a platoon leader of the 2nd Armored Division, which was commanded by the son of General George S. Patton Jr., George Patton III. During this time, Attorney General McDonnell ran a medical clinic for the post.
In October 1978, Attorney General McDonnell’s unit moved to Northern Germany, to Garlstedt near Bremen. His was the first American combat unit to be stationed in Northern Germany since WWII, so there would be American tanks there in addition to the British presence. His unit, the 498th support battalion, was the first tactical convoy to make the trip up to Gen. Lucius D. Clay Kaserne base. His motor pool was bombed by a German terrorist gang right before his combat unit arrived. As Clearing Platoon Leader, Attorney General McDonnell ran the hospital troops clinic.
Attorney General McDonnell stayed in Northern Germany until December 1979, when he returned to Fort Eustis in Newport News, Va., where he worked at McDonald Army Hospital as a medical supply officer. Attorney General McDonnell left active duty in April 1981. All total, Attorney General McDonnell served 21 years in the U.S. Army, both active duty and reserves, retiring as a Lt. Colonel.
Continuing their family legacy of military service, Attorney General McDonnell’s daughter Jeanine recently returned from serving a tour of duty in Iraq, as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. She was a platoon leader, serving at the Camp Victory command center in Baghdad, Iraq, as a Strategic Signal Officer, traveling the deserts of Iraq by Black Hawk helicopter.
Experience in Public Service
Prior to being elected to the House of Delegates, Attorney General McDonnell served as a criminal prosecutor in the Virginia Beach Commonwealth's Attorneys office, concentrating on juvenile and sex offense cases. He prosecuted everything from speeding tickets to rape and murder. Among the highlights of his time in the office was his successful prosecution of a child molester for luring little boys from the neighborhood into his home and abusing them sexually. That child molester was sentenced to forty years behind bars. It was during this work that Attorney General McDonnell saw the need for stronger legislation to protect victims and public policy that helped the criminal justice system.
Experience in the Legislature
Attorney General McDonnell represented Virginia Beach in the House of Delegates for 14 years. During that time he worked with Gov. George Allen and Attorney General Jim Gilmore to abolish parole and enact truth-in-sentencing reforms in Virginia in 1994, and led the effort to reform Virginia's juvenile justice system in 1995 and 1996. These common sense reforms kept violent predators off the streets and out of our neighborhoods, and resulted in reduced murder rates, as well as a significant reduction in the instances of rape and other violent crimes.
In the General Assembly, Attorney General McDonnell was known as a leader on criminal justice and victims’ rights issues, as well as welfare, taxation and family policy. He was Chief Patron of Gov. Allen’s Juvenile Justice Reform Initiative, Chief Patron of Virginia’s historic Welfare Reform legislation, Chief Co-Patron of legislation in the 2003 General Assembly to abolish the death tax in Virginia, Chief Patron of legislation to create a transportation trust fund, and Chief Patron of legislation to rewrite Virginia’s Public Private Partnership Act. He also authored legislation and secured funding for the creation of Virginia’s first Judicial Performance Evaluation Program to assist the General Assembly in reappointing judges.
As chairman of the 2005 Crime Commission Task Force on Sexually Violent Predators, he worked to draft the historic and far-reaching sex offender proposals that he would make a cornerstone of his campaign for Attorney General. In addition to serving as the Chairman of the House Courts of Justice Committee, Attorney General McDonnell also served on major policy reform commissions like Gov. Allen’s Commission to Abolish Parole, the Attorney General’s Task Force on Youth & Gang Violence, and the Governor’s Commission on Environmental Stewardship.
The sex offender proposals Attorney General McDonnell campaigned on became Attorney General McDonnell’s “Safe Kids Initiative,” when he took office as Virginia’s 44th Attorney General in January of 2006. Passage of the “Safe Kids Initiative” was the hallmark achievement of Attorney General McDonnell’s first session of the General Assembly as Virginia’s Attorney General.
The bills comprising the “Safe Kids Initiative” passed the General Assembly with nearly unanimous support during the 2006 session, and were signed into law April 24, 2006. These laws protect Virginia’s children by instituting much harsher punishment, and electronic tracking, of those who threaten their safety and innocence.
As of July 1, 2006, Virginia has the following new laws on the books, making Bob’s vision a reality:
Thanks to the strong bipartisan support of Attorney General McDonnell’s legislative agenda, Virginia will now be a model to the rest of the country on what can be done when office holders work together to protect children, and take sexual predators off the street. Those who harm innocent children have no place in our society, and Attorney General McDonnell’s successful legislative agenda as Attorney General makes every child in Virginia safer.
Attorney General McDonnell has built a record of results since taking office in 2006. As a candidate for Attorney General in 2005, he made seven major promises. The first was to protect Virginia’s children from sexual predators. Passage of the “Safe Kids Initiative” legislation was a major step forward in this effort. In addition to this promise McDonnell also promised to:
In fact, all of these signature promises became law during Attorney General McDonnell's first seven months in office – except for property rights reform, which became law the following year.
- Take dangerous drug dealers off our streets. HB 1347 and SB 453 (2006), patroned by Del. Rob Bell and Sen. Ken Stolle, created a new “mini-kingpin” statute that imposes a 5-year mandatory minimum sentence and a fine of up to $1 million on mid-level drug dealers.
- Defend Virginians against Identity Theft. HB 1141 and SB 460 (2006), patroned by Del. Ben Cline and Sen. Jeannemarie Devolites Davis, increased the number of identity theft crimes that are prosecutable as a felony.
- Combat Gang Violence. HB 775 and SB 473 (2006), patroned by Del. Dave Albo and Sen. Tommy Norment, adds to the list of crimes that make someone eligible for prosecution under Virginia's gang participation laws, giving Virginia's law enforcement more tools to crack down on street gangs.
- Eminent Domain - Protecting our Citizens’ Private Property Rights. SB 781, SB 1296 and HB 2954 (2007), patroned by Del. Rob Bell, Sen. Ken Cuccinelli, Sen. Steve Newman and Sen. Tommy Norment. Provided that property can only be taken when the public interest dominates the private gain and the primary purpose of the taking is not private financial gain, private benefit, an increase in tax base or revenues, or an increase in employment. Provided that a property owner may challenge that a taking is a pretext for an unauthorized use. Places new limitations upon the Housing Authority ability to condemn for blight.
- Curb Frivolous Prisoner Lawsuits. HB 888 (2006), patroned by Del. Terry Kilgore. Curbs frivolous prisoner lawsuits by giving judges discretion on issuing subpoenas and permits the dismissal of certain inmate lawsuits without the need for hearings.
- Protect Virginians from Terrorist Threats. HB 1004 and SB 363 (2006), patroned by Del. Beverly Sherwood and Sen. William Wampler codify the mission and outline the preparedness and security duties of the Office of Commonwealth Preparedness and the Secure Commonwealth Panel, making this office permanent in the Commonwealth.
Eighty-five of the Attorney General’s 94 legislative proposals have passed the General Assembly over the past three years.
To learn more about the success of the Attorney General’s three legislative packages, click the following links:
To learn about all the work done by the Office of Attorney General Bob McDonnell, please visit “The News Room,” and sign up for the official “Office of the Attorney General E-mail List” to hear about news as it happens.
Every day Attorney General Bob McDonnell, and the entire staff of the Office of the Attorney General, are working to build a safer and stronger Virginia. We hope you will join us in this effort.