After graduation, Ohio University alumni scatter across the country to start their new careers; however, some of them end up returning to Athens.
On Aug. 20, Athens County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn welcomed two new employees to the County Prosecutor’s Office, both of whom are former Bobcats.
Becky Filar, the office’s new victim advocate who works to aid and assist victims, graduated from OU in 2006.
Matt Ward, the new assistant prosecutor, graduated in 1997.
Filar works closely with Alli Purcell, a former office receptionist who was recently appointed director of victim’s assistance.
Purcell said that both jobs entail urging and supporting the rights of the victims and their inputs on their cases and informing them of when their perpetrator’s hearings are scheduled.
“I hope to do my part to help (Blackburn) further his mission of making our community safer from crime and helping those addicted to drugs,” Filar said in the release. She added that she and Purcell hope to continue to aid and assist victims to the best of their ability and figure out the best ways to approach each case.
In his role as assistant prosecutor, Ward will lend a hand to Blackburn in criminal prosecution cases as needed.
“Working as a prosecutor has long been a dream of mine,” Ward said in the release. “I hope to assist the office by handling felony prosecuting and some appeals.”
Purcell attended Athens High School before attending OU, where she would graduate in 2011. She said that she has always stayed in the area, and when her job as a receptionist at the Athens County Prosecutor’s Office opened up, it made sense to remain in Athens.
Ward is also an AHS alumnus, and Filar graduated from Alexander High School in Albany, Ohio.
Filar said although she worked out of Columbus for a couple of years, she “wasn’t really interested in looking for (new) positions elsewhere.”
After his years at OU, Ward continued his education at the Columbia School of Law at the University of Missouri. However, the decision to return to Athens meant achieving his dream job.
“Being back home in Athens County has been a great move for my family,” Ward said in the release.
@KellyPFisher
kf398711@ohiou.edu
