CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has hired a former Kanawha County assistant prosecutor to be part of efforts against prescription drug abuse.
Morrisey announced Thursday Maryclaire Akers will be an assistant attorney general in the Consumer Protection Division.
“We are pleased to have someone of Ms. Akers’ caliber joining our team,” Attorney General Morrisey said in a prepared statement. “She is a well-respected attorney in the Kanawha Valley, and she will bring years of prosecutorial experience to the Division and the Office’s working group tasked with looking at the drug abuse epidemic plaguing our state.”
Akers told MetroNews Thursday most of the crimes she came across as an assistant prosecutor were related to drugs and drug abuse.
“One thing that always struck me was how many people it affects,” she said. “It affects every member of their family, their community and their neighbors.”
AG Morrisey said Akers will prosecute consumer fraud cases and be part of a working group in his office evaluating the state’s prescription drug problems.
Akers said she’s looking forward to the challenge.
“The hard things make me happy to try to figure out and solve. I know it’s a complex problem and there’s no easy answer,” she said. “I think it’s going to be really exciting to work on and I’m really glad for the opportunity.”
Akers has most recently worked for the state Ethics Commission. She’ll begin her new job August 12.