Fourteenth Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone has been named the 68th president of the National District Attorneys Association.

Formed in 1950, the NDAA has more than 5,100 members across the nation representing state and local prosecutors’ offices from both urban and rural districts, as well as large and small jurisdictions. The organization works with Congress on law enforcement and prosecution issues and trains prosecutors across the United States.

Stone’s agenda for the organization for the upcoming year is to work with Congress to fund the John R. Justice student loan forgiveness program.

“There are people throughout the country who want to be career prosecutors and public defenders but cannot afford to do so due to crippling student loan debt,” Stone said in a release. “If we are to tackle some of <a href="https://staging.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/StoneNDAAspeech.jpg"><img class="alignright  wp-image-41129" src="https://staging.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/StoneNDAAspeech-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="625" height="351"></a>today’s most pressing criminal justice issues like the opioid crisis, we need both experienced prosecutors and public defenders and the John R. Justice program is one of those ways we can provide a career path for these public servants.”

Next, Stone wants to create regional training facilities throughout the country.

“The NDAA has trained thousands of prosecutors over the years with the only limitation being the offices ability to send their prosecutors to the classes,” Stone said.

Stone said he wants NDAA training to be available to all prosecution offices regardless of size or budget and aims to establish local training facilities.

“This helps the prosecutors and the communities that they serve by bringing in top-notch national training,” he said.

Stone has already testified before the U.S. Senate concerning the dangers of child exploitation on the internet and has met with members of Congress concerning the funding of the John R. Justice program.

“I am honored to hold this position,” he said. “The National District Attorneys Association has been the catalyst for a number of programs that we have put in place in the 14th Circuit. Our intelligence unit, our Special Victims Unit and our soon to be opened Family Justice Center are just some of the programs I learned about by serving on the NDAA board.”

Stone is only the second South Carolinian to serve as NDAA president. The first was the late Sixth Circuit Solicitor John Justice.

The 14th Judicial Circuit includes Allendale, Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper counties.

<em>Above: Fourteenth Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone, right, speaks during&nbsp;last week’s ceremony in Quebec City, Canada. National District Attorneys Association Executive Director Nelson O. Bunn, Jr. is at left. Stone joins the late John R. Justice, who was the&nbsp;6th Circuit solicitor for nearly three decades, as the only South Carolinians to head the NDAA,&nbsp;the country's only nonpartisan organization representing state and local prosecutors.</em>