The new Cape and Islands district attorney is in the process of setting up a new office in downtown Edgartown, fulfilling a campaign promise to create more of a presence on Martha’s Vineyard.
Rob Galibois, the first ever Democratic district attorney for the region, has secured space on the second floor of the Edgartown police department. The new office is expected to open next month after computer systems and wiring is put in place.
After being elected in November, Mr. Galibois said he hoped to increase the visibility of the district attorney’s office on the Vineyard. In the past, the district attorney had a small, closet-like office inside the Edgartown courthouse that was only open the three days a week that court is in session, according to Mr. Galibois.
The new office will be open five days a week, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“We will have an office presence on Martha’s Vineyard every day,” Mr. Galibois said this week.
Mr. Galibois, a former defense attorney on the Cape, said the office will be staffed with an Island-based victim witness assistant, a departure from recent years where a staffer traveled from the mainland.
Mr. Galibois declined to name the assistant until the office officially opens.
He has brought several new faces to the office, including Jessica Elumba — the first woman to hold the title of first assistant district attorney in the office’s nearly 50-year history.
Attorney Thomas Moakley, who started late in the last administration’s term, will remain as the assistant district attorney based on the Island.
As Mr. Galibois settles into the role, he has also stayed in touch with Javier Salazar, the sheriff in Bexar County, Tex. who has launched an investigation into the treatment of Venezuelan migrants flown to the Vineyard this summer by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“The sheriff and I have remained in contact with each other,” Mr. Galibois said. “Since I took office on Jan. 4, I’ve been advised that they are getting close to charging individuals in Texas.”
