The Commonwealth's Attorney is the chief law enforcement officer of Lee County and is elected by the people to serve a four-year term. The Commonwealth's Attorney and his Assistants prosecute all felony crimes that occur in Lee County and misdemeanor crimes when appropriate. The Commonwealth's Attorney represents the People of Lee County in the Circuit Court, the General District Court and the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.
The Commonwealth's Attorney also provides legal advice to the Lee County Sheriff's Department as well as the Town police departments.
Shawn Hines is the Commonwealth's Attorney for Lee County. He is a life-long resident of Jonesville, Virginia. He graduated from Lee High School in 1991. He attended Virginia Intermont College on a tennis scholarship and received his Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science and History in 1995. After college, he attended law school outside of our nation's capital, Washington, D.C., at the George Mason University School of Law, where he received his law degree.
Mr. Hines served as law clerk to the Honorable Cynthia D. Kinser, Justice, Supreme Court of Virginia, upon graduating from law school. Thereafter, he practiced law with Terry Kilgore in Gate City, Virginia, where he first began to prosecute cases in criminal court.
He joined the Lee County Commonwealth's Attorney's Office in 2000 as the Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney and remained in that position until taking over as Commonwealth's Attorney for Lee County. He is a member of the Virginia State Bar, the National Association of District Attorneys, the Domestic and Sexual Violence Task Force, the Southwest Virginia Multi-Disciplinary Trauma Team, the TRIAD group to combat crimes committed against our elderly population and is a founding board member of the Lee County Juvenile Drug Court.
Mr. Hines lives in Jonesville with his wife, Summer.
