LIHU‘E — Deputy County Attorney Justin Kollar filed Monday as a candidate for Kaua‘i County prosecuting attorney. He will face incumbent Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho, who is running for re-election. “My family taught me to do what I do with integrity, with
LIHU‘E — Deputy County Attorney Justin Kollar filed Monday as a candidate for Kaua‘i County prosecuting attorney. He will face incumbent Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho, who is running for re-election.
“My family taught me to do what I do with integrity, with respect and with an eye toward serving the community,” Kollar said. “That was their real measure of success. That is my philosophy and what I want to bring to the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney.”
Kollar, 38, said his priorities are fighting illegal drug use and also building stronger relationships with the community.
“Crystal meth and prescription drugs are twin epidemics that are tearing the community apart right now,” he said.
Kollar said he would build partnerships with the families and neighborhoods that know where the problems exist as an essential link in supporting effective law enforcement. These partnerships are essential in learning what is important from residents, he said.
“I am most proud of the relationships that I have formed with the community here,” Kollar said. “Its essential, I think, to be a part of the community that you are trying to serve.”
After moving to Hawai‘i in 2006, Kollar went to work as a clerk for the State Court of Appeals on O‘ahu. In 2008, he became a deputy prosecuting attorney on Kaua‘i. He was named deputy county attorney in 2009.
As a prosecutor, Kollar said he had a supervisory role in juvenile and family court. In addition he carried a caseload specializing in drug and vehicular homicide cases.
In his four years with the county, Kollar said he has managed attorneys and budgets, worked as a prosecutor and legal consultant.
“The prosecutor is not necessarily the person who goes to court and does the jury trials,” he said. “The prosecutor is a team coach and their job is to go in and make sure the deputies have the resources, tools, the support and leadership in order to do their jobs.”
Kollar said after an uncle was murdered while he was a child, he wanted to go into the criminal justice field after he learned that the case against the defendant was lost on appeal because of mistakes made in the case.
“For the last quarter century of my life, I have had it in my mind that the criminal justice system needs to be a system that works for everyone,” he said. “It needs to be an effective system that keeps the community safe.”
Kollar graduated from Suffolk University Law School in Boston in 2004. He worked on civil and criminal cases for the City of Boston as assistant corporation counsel. He also clerked for the Massachusetts Superior Court.
• Tom LaVenture, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or tlaventure@thegardenisland.com.
