Growing up the only female out of four children in her Italian-American family, Peggy Trent knows a little bit about hard work. Trent is the Democratic candidate running for Albany County Attorney. She has lived in Laramie since 2000 and her husband is a professor here at the University of Wyoming.
“I have always worked, and just like students here at the university I have always worked while attending school,” Trent said. “I know how important that is, to work hard and get where you are. I paid for my college completely all the way through law school. I was the first one on both sides of my family to graduate from college and then earn an advanced degree.”
So why is she running? Trent said she was concerned about how certain cases were being handled.
“Specifically on how we were handling juveniles and handling sexual assault cases,” Trent said. “I believe that fiscally there are some issues in the way they’re managing the office as well.”
Trent said the office requires two different types of practice: representation of the county and county agencies and prosecution of crimes on behalf of the state of Wyoming. As far as experience with these two areas Trent said she has it covered as a former prosecutor for the Franklin County prosecutor’s office in Columbus, Ohio for 9 years, as well as representing Wyoming in state agencies, municipalities, and the hospital district.
Trent has experience teaching law as well. She’s been a teacher for 14 years, teaching local government law at the law school since 2008, as well as in the criminal justice program.
Trent said she feels strongly about unification of the system in order to produce better results. Her opponent in the race, Jim Schermetzler, has also put forth similar views.
Trent said she plans to move more proactively towards preventing crime rather than just prosecuting it. She said there are many programs already in place and she plans to enact the plans in schools.
“How can we prevent it, what can we do as a community to prevent vandalism,” she said.
A Town Hall discussion on child protection and juvenile delinquency issues will be held at the Laramie Civic Center on Sept. 24. Trent said it is important for students to attend, as it will address issues pertaining to them.
“I believe the more we can bring the different views of students from different communities to share what they do in their communities, the more that we get to solutions and how to resolve it rather than just poking at the problem,” Trent said.
