Commonwealth’s Attorney is the title given to the elected prosecutor of felony crimes in Virginia (and Kentucky). Other states refer to such prosecutors as district attorney or state’s attorney. The commonwealth’s attorney is the highest law enforcement official in Caroline County and supervises a staff, which can include a deputy commonwealth’s attorney, and assistant commonwealth’s attorneys. As a constitutional officer, commonwealth’s attorneys are elected to four-year terms.
John L. Mahoney
Although he is well known as a litigator by those who toil in the Caroline County court system, John Mahoney faces the challenge of getting better acquainted with the local citizenry. The unopposed candidate for Commonwealth’s Attorney in the Nov. 3 election is not exactly a household name.
Mahoney enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps as a young man and later became a commissioned officer via officer candidate school. He attended law school on the G.I. Bill after retiring as a Marine major, earning his law degree from George Mason University in 1997.
“I loved the Marines and the Marines loved me, but after I had been in for 19 years, we had our second child and I realized my first child was 3 years old and did not know who daddy was,” Mahoney said.
As a lawyer, Mahoney has practiced criminal defense law in Madison, Orange, Culpeper, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Caroline, Westmoreland and King George counties and in the City of Fredericksburg. He also has experience as a prosecutor, having served as King George County’s first assistant commonweath’s attorney for nearly three years.
Mahoney, who describes himself as “a Yankee by birth and a Virginian by choice,” said he responded to a grassroots campaign to get him to run for Commonwealth’s Attorney.
The decision to “give up my practice in Spotsylvania and run” has been building for two years, Mahoney said. One of the voicemails he still saves on his cellphone was from Caroline County Sheriff’s Maj. Scott Moser asking Mahoney to run and saying it was a call to duty.
“Quite frankly, I had a pretty good thing going with my private practice,” Mahoney said. “But if he says Caroline County needs me, I’m ready for a new challenge.”
When incumbent C.A. Tony Spencer decided not to get into a contested race, it pretty much cleared the way for Mahoney, who rents a house in Caroline Pines and is looking to buy in Caroline County. And he has been busily working the crowds at fairs and festivals in an effort to meet the public.
As for Spencer, who Mahoney considers a personal friend, “He and I are more in agreement than disagreement, especially in regards to the Caroline County Recovery Center.”
Mahoney’s calling cards carry a quote from Frederick Douglass that states, “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken adults.”
“I think that Caroline is a great county that has lots of good people in it, but it needs some help, particularly in the juvenile justice system, because those juveniles graduate into adult criminals,” he said.
However, Mahoney said he is willing to be firm when it is called for.
“Prosecutorial discretion has to be used judiciously, but I see no problem giving someone a break if there is hope for them,” he noted.
Mahoney’s own children are out of the nest. “My daughter is 30, married and living in Brooklyn, and my youngest is a criminal justice major at GMU.”
As one of the few Marine officers who actually taught in a middle school while on active duty, Mahoney said he believes the sixth grade is the place to start in making sure every Caroline student has a shot at living a successful and law-abiding life.
As Commonwealth’s Attorney, Mahoney hopes to play an active role in the process.
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