District Attorney
Born and raised in Chambersburg, PA, Matt graduated from Cumberland Valley Christian School in Chambersburg, later graduated with honors from Shippensburg University, and then earned a law degree from the Penn State University Dickinson School of Law. While a law student at Dickinson, he was an intern in the Franklin County D.A.’s Office, and he then went on to perform duties as a law clerk for President Judge John R. Walker upon graduation in 2000.
Matt joined the Franklin County D.A.’s Office as a full-time Assistant District Attorney in 2002, and was eventually made Chief Deputy District Attorney in 2006. During that time, he was cross-appointed as a federal Special Assistant United States Attorney, with authority to prosecute certain county crimes in federal court. As Chief Deputy District Attorney, he worked closely with the Franklin County Drug Task Force and helped manage numerous undercover drug enforcement operations. As a senior member of the D.A.’s office, he handled all manner of cases within the office, ranging from misdemeanors to major felonies and homicide, and he has extensive trial and courtroom experience. Since becoming District Attorney in 2009, he has continued to champion victims' rights, and has implemented numerous changes both within the office and within the justice system, in order to make the processes more efficient and fiscally responsible.
He enlisted as an infantryman in 1994, and later accepted a commission into the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps in 2002. Since September 11, 2001, he has been mobilized numerous times and deployed overseas on two occasions. His most recent tour in a combat zone was in Afghanistan, where he was the theater combatant command’s sole Legal Mentor to the Attorney General of Afghanistan. While in Afghanistan, he assessed the provincial criminal justice system and helped develop the national Afghanistan Prosecutor’s Association, coordinating back home with the National District Attorney’s Association and Pennsylvania District Attorney’s Association, as well as the International Association of Prosecutors. Working with federal prosecutors from the Department of Justice and attorneys from the Department of State and U.S. Embassy in Kabul, he also assisted in the planning efforts to combat heroin trafficking in Afghanistan. He served in a year-long deployment in Kosovo as well, and was also mobilized to provide humanitarian relief to New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. Most recently, he acted as the Chief of Criminal Law for the 28th Infantry Division of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard.
His memberships and affiliations include the International Association of Prosecutors, the National District Attorney’s Association, the Pennsylvania District Attorney’s Association, the Franklin County Bar Association, Lions Club International, the Pennsylvania National Guard Association of the United States, the Military Officer’s Association of America, the National Infantry Association.
Matt is a member of the Education and Training Committee of the Pennsylvania District Attorney’s Association, a member of the Franklin County Prison Board, and is active within various committees of the Franklin County Criminal Justice Advisory Board. He is an active member of Commonwealth’s veteran’s groups, including the American Legion, and he is also a Deputy Staff Judge Advocate for the Department of Pennsylvania Veterans of Foreign Wars.
