SLO County District Attorney’s Office names new director for victim and witness services

The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office has a new director of its Victim and Witness Assistance Center, District Attorney Dan Dow announced Tuesday.

Diana McPartlan, who has served as a victim and witness advocate with the District Attorney’s Office since 2006, will fill the position left by the retirement of former director Debra Vallely.

The Victim and Witness Assistance Center helps reduce the trauma of legal proceedings and act as a guide to victims of a crime or witnesses called to testify in court, as well as their families.

McPartlan began her career as an intern at the SLO County Sheriff’s Office in 1981, according to a District Attorney’s Office news release. She later volunteered at the Rape Crisis Center assisting victims of sexual assault, before going on to work as a group counselor for at-risk youth in Citrus Heights.

While her two children attended Paso Robles High School, McPartlan worked as a campus assistant, supervising the in-home school suspension program.

She became assistant director of the county’s Victim and Witness Assistance Center in 2011.

This story was originally published January 12, 2016 at 4:23 PM with the headline "SLO County District Attorney’s Office names new director for victim and witness services."