Sarah David, who defeated longtime State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger in the Democratic primary and ran unopposed in the general election, said in a wide-ranging interview that the office has failed to track basic information about its own cases — from win-loss records to whether witnesses show up to court.

"One of the things that's missing is data, right?" David said. "We don't know what is happening in the state's attorney's office because we're not tracking what's happening in our cases."

David said the office has not kept pace with changes in crime or the technology prosecutors need to build cases. She is assembling a transition team of prosecutors, victim advocates, legal professionals and community leaders to examine violent crime prosecutions, juvenile justice, staffing, technology and sexual assault investigations.

The team includes former Baltimore City State's Attorney Gregg Bernstein, Harford County State's Attorney Alison Healey, Prince George's County State's Attorney Tara Jackson and retired federal Judge Diana Gribbon Motz as honorary chair. It is co-chaired by attorney Lydia Lawless, former Baltimore County prosecutor Ian Wright and Adam Rosenberg, executive director of the Center for Hope at LifeBridge Health. Representatives from Gov. Wes Moore's administration, including Dorothy Lennig of the Governor's Office of Crime Prevention and Policy, are also participating.

The goal, David said, is to borrow practices that work elsewhere in Maryland and bring them to Baltimore County.

Her election drew attention because of significant outside spending by a progressive political group described during the campaign as backed by billionaire George Soros. Asked about residents who worry that support could translate into more progressive prosecution policies, David pointed to her campaign and background.

"I think that there are good ideas from all spaces. And we're going to listen to all of those ideas," she said. She argued the public should judge her by the work of her office, not the political affiliations of outside groups. "I'm also willing to run on my record, right? I'm willing to run on that transparency."

Asked whether she wished the outside group had not spent money supporting her, David declined to comment, citing legal limitations on discussing such spending. She said she was proud of the campaign she ran, which focused on modernization and public safety.

David rejected the idea of blanket policies against prosecuting certain low-level offenses, a approach associated with former Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby.

"No. No, I think that it's really important, one of the things that's really important in prosecutorial spaces, is to never say never and never say all this," David said. "If you come out and you say, I will never prosecute a case like this, something will come in where that's the tool you need in your toolbox to hold somebody accountable."

She said prosecutors must evaluate cases individually, balancing accountability with circumstances such as addiction and the availability of treatment, while making clear that incarceration remains central to her approach to violent crime.

"If you commit a crime in Baltimore County, you know, you're going to have serious consequences," she said. "There's going to be jail time in certain violent offenses."

David also identified a gap in how the county handles domestic violence. Unlike Baltimore City, which has had dedicated domestic violence prosecutors in District Court since the 1990s, Baltimore County has none, she said.

"An example of where Baltimore County is out of sync with the rest of the state is that we don't have domestic violence prosecutors in district court," David said. She argued that specialized prosecutors can intervene earlier, when cases may be less serious, and help prevent escalating violence. She cautioned that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to sexual assault prosecutions, calling them "very hard" cases.

Rather than impose blanket charging policies, she wants to improve victim services, provide resources earlier and examine how the office handles cases from the beginning. Her transition team is developing two sets of recommendations: changes that can be implemented quickly and longer-term priorities that may take years or require additional resources.

David also plans to establish a public affairs operation to communicate prosecution outcomes and explain how the criminal justice system works.

"We need to make people feel safer, and in order to make people feel safe, we need to be explaining the work that we're doing," she said.

She hopes to release a public transition report before or around her January swearing-in. Asked whether she had a catchphrase for violent offenders like the "pack your toothbrush" warning used by Baltimore City State's Attorney Ivan Bates, David laughed.

"I have not developed a catchphrase yet, so maybe I'll ask the transition team to help me with that as well," she said.