Jim Plowman was born in August, 1967, five months after the death of his Father. James Plowman Sr. served as the navigator on a Navy A-6 Intruder light bomber based on the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk. His plane was shot down during a mission over North Vietnam.

"As a parent," said Jim Plowman Jr., "I've just begun the process of imagining the challenges my Mother endured. Not only did she lose both her love and spouse, something I can't even begin to comprehend, but she was simultaneously a first time mother and single parent."

"There really are no words to describe her strength... she is the most extraordinary person I've ever known."

Jim grew up in Northern Virginia. He graduated from Bishop O'Connell High School in Arlington and went on to study Economics at Virginia Tech.

"These days, when people think of Virginia Tech, they think of the murders. But no murderer will ever be able to rob me of the uncountable list of wonderful experiences, both educational and in terms of friendship, that I was privileged to experience at Virginia Tech... Virginia Tech is an extraordinary institution, terrorism is unable to tarnish it."

After graduation Jim went to work full time for a defense contractor in Washington DC. He spent his evenings attending the National Law Center at George Washington University.

"Putting yourself through law school with a full time job is tough stuff, and I can't say I loved it at the time. But in retrospect, I know I became stronger from the experience."

Following graduation and passing the bar exam, Jim became a Prosecutor ("Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney") for Fairfax County, during which he prosecuted over forty jury trials and over a thousand bench trials.

"Law school teaches you law. But criminal prosecution can only be learned by being a prosecutor... Prosecutors are dealing, every day, with difficult people in the context of crimes so horrid that no sensible person can or should be able to comprehend... Criminal prosecution can easily "burn out" any sensible professional... it's the toughest of the tough who choose to serve, and it requires a serious faith in God to get through some of this stuff."

Jim met his future wife, Angela, an attorney in private practice, while serving as a Fairfax County prosecutor.

"It really was something of a 'whirlwind' romance.' Angela is the love of my life... she is the strength of our family, and my strength."

Following marriage, and faced with the financial requirements of a new family, Jim went to work for one of the world's largest insurance companies where he fought insurance fraud as a trial attorney.

"Normal people just can't imagine the fraud some folks invent to rip off insurance companies. The problem is that it's not a 'victimless' crime, each and every one of us end up paying for these characters in our insurance rates."

In 2003 the Republican Party of Loudoun County recruited Jim to be their candidate for Commonwealth's Attorney.

"It really was never my plan to run for office for anything... I'm about as 'apolitical' as anyone can be... They needed someone with a serious prosecutorial background... the truth is that I accepted their nomination more as a matter of friendship to a good friend... so I became the GOP nominee."

"The other key issue was that the incumbent had no prosecutorial experience prior to being elected, and the result was that Loudoun had become one of the 'softest' counties in Virginia on crime... As a Loudoun County parent, the idea that there was little or no deterrent to crime for my community was more than 'scary.' That was really what made up my mind to accept the nomination."

In November 2003 Loudoun County voters made their decision -- Plowman was swept into office.

"My opponent in 2003 was, and is, a very decent and honorable man and a first rate attorney. It's important that people know that... my campaign was never about him personally, rather my issue has always been about a real and meaningful deterrent to crime in Loudoun County."

"When the bad guys understand that there are serious consequences for crime in Loudoun, the incentives for potential crimes are reduced. The best way to fight crime is to prevent it from occurring, and it's the job of the Commonwealth's Attorney to create a serious deterrent that really does discourage potential offenders."

"It's not the job of prosecutors to decide what penalties are appropriate -- that's the job of the judge and/or jury. It's the prosecutor's job to present the case against the criminals, and if that's not happening, well, then, there are no consequences for criminal behavior."

"I can't say the outcomes of all the trials are exactly as we wanted... too often judges and juries render decisions that seem 'outrageous' to us. But I can say that this office is doing everything in its power to enforce our laws... our mission is to create the deterrent that helps to make Loudoun County a safer place for each of us."