Topeka ? Attorney General Paul Morrison announced Monday a reorganization effort to help Kansas crime victims and the appointment of Dorthy Stucky Halley as the statewide crime victims coordinator.

“Our goal is to create a one-stop shop for victims of crime and victims programs,” Morrison said

The new Victims’ Services Division will assist communities and organizations with crime prevention efforts, training and direct victim assistance, he said.

Halley, of Girard, has been working in the crime victims field for 20 years as a counselor, social worker and executive director of a domestic violence agency.

She is past president of both the Kansas chapter of the National Association of Social Workers and the Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence.

Halley will be making $80,000 per year, which is $30,000 more than the position previously paid.

But Morrison’s office said that in the reorganization, Halley will have more responsibilities and manage 14 employees instead of two.

The issue of addressing the needs of crime victims was contested during last year’s election when Morrison, a Democrat, defeated incumbent Republican Phill Kline.

Morrison said that under Kline’s administration, the crime victims office had been taken apart and suffered large turnover.

Kline said he had made the victim rights coordinator a stand-alone office and increased its role.