ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, December 5, 1996             TAG: 9612050044
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-5  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURA LAFAY STAFF WRITER 

FORMER JUVENILE JUSTICE CHIEF IS TAKING OVER PUBLIC SAFETY

Patricia West, director of Virginia's Department of Juvenile Justice, was appointed Wednesday to replace Jerry Kilgore as the state's director of public safety.

Kilgore resigned Friday to seek the GOP nomination for attorney general in 1997.

West, 35 and originally from Roanoke, prosecuted child offenders in Norfolk and Virginia Beach before joining the administration of Gov. George Allen in 1994. As director of Juvenile Justice, she oversaw juvenile prisons and detention centers, group homes and juvenile probation and parole.

The department has been criticized recently in a study by the Joint Legislation Audit and Review Commission, a bipartisan research team that investigates state government for the General Assembly.

The study credited the Allen administration with expanding existing facilities but said the administration implemented its get-tough push to reform juvenile justice with insufficient planning - leading to overcrowded centers and fragmented programs.

Despite the critical study, Allen said at a Wednesday news conference that West has ``done an outstanding job.''

Invoking juvenile justice changes, the abolition of parole, sentencing reform and a recent 12 percent crime drop, Allen said West will ``be an effective force in continuing the enormous progress we've made.''

West grew up in Virginia Beach. She graduated from Kellam High School, majored in economics at the College of William and Mary and stayed on to earn her law degree in 1986.

As director of public safety, she will oversee Virginia's prison system, the state police, emergency services and the state's National Guard.

``I feel privileged to be part of the legacy of a governor who keeps his promises,'' she said Wednesday.

LENGTH: Short :   43 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  AP. Gov. George Allen introduces Patricia West to 
          reporters Wednesday at the State Capitol in Richmond.