DOBSON — Ricky Bowman has served as district attorney for the 17-B Judicial District for almost 15 years. He was appointed by the governor and was sworn into office on May 1, 1995. He was elected district attorney in 1996, 1998, 2002 and 2006.

Bowman said he has enjoyed serving as the district attorney in Surry and Stokes counties and feels that his office has continually made efforts to improve the system.

“I love serving as district attorney. It can sometimes be a lonely and thankless job because of the difficult decisions that need to be made daily. However, it can be very rewarding. With great responsibility comes headaches, heart aches and great rewards,” he said.

Bowman said when students at job fairs ask him what he most likes about his job, he tells them that he loves to help people.

“While fighting crime and working to ensure the guilty receive justice is most important, I feel that it should not be the sole focus of the district attorney. Helping people might mean sending a thief or a murderer to prison for a long time and that certainly helps the community as a whole, but helping people also means fighting for victims of crime,” Bowman said.

He said that helping people also means that sometimes he has to give a teenager in trouble a break, so that his or her life is not forever ruined by one bad choice. He said that also means helping a senior citizen who has never violated a law by giving a break on a speeding ticket.

“I’ve always believed that while we punish and hold accountable the bad, we should always help and reward the good,” he said.

Bowman is a member of New Home Church of Christ where he has attended services for 46 years. He has been a member of Copeland Masonic Lodge for 31 years. He is a member of the Mount Airy Rotary Club, the North Carolina Victim Assistance Network, the Surry County Bar Association, the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys and various community and governmental organizations.

He has been married for 25 years to Lorri and has two children, Lindsay and Scott.

Bowman said his office has seen success with using the Habitual Felon Law or the “three strikes and you’re out law.”

He said a good example of that is just last week when a Surry County resident was convicted of breaking into a home in Stokes County. He was sentenced to 282 months because of the Habitual Felon Law.

While serving as district attorney, Bowman started the Worthless Check Program for Surry County and Stokes County. The program provides businesses and citizens a way to collect and pay worthless checks without court involvement. Revenues generated by the program pay all costs for the program, thus there is no cost to the taxpayer.

“This program is a tax-saving measure. There is no cost to the taxpayers because our program is fully funded and pays for itself,” he said.

Bowman also initiated and helped to establish Administrative Traffic Court for Surry and Stokes County in 1997. Traffic court is an informal court without a judge where ordinary citizens can come to court to handle minor traffic violations.

“Our new traffic court helps citizens have easier access to the court to handle minor traffic violations rather than having to sit in criminal court all day to get a traffic ticket resolved,” he said.

Bowman also was able make Felony Plea Court a reality where H and I felonies could be handled in district court. Felony Plea Court enables H and I felonies to be done more quickly, helping victims of crime obtain restitution in a more timely fashion.

Bowman received an Associate in Arts degree from Surry Community College in 1975, a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wake Forest University in 1977 and his Juris Doctor in 1984 from Campbell University School of Law. He had his own law practice from 1984 until 1995 when he was appointed to serve as the district attorney for Surry County and Stokes County.

Contact Mondee Tilley at mtilley@mtairynews.com or at 719-1930.