McKean County District Attorney Stephanie Vettenburg-Shaffer is currently in her second term as District Attorney.

She is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford where she earned a degree in criminal justice and completed an internship at FCI-McKean.

After graduating from UPB, she was employed by McKean County Children and Youth Services.  While working at CYS, Shaffer earned her juris doctorate degree, with a concentration in criminal law, from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Shaffer began practicing law following graduation and was a partner in a local law firm until her election.     

One of Shaffer’s proudest accomplishments was that, while in private practice, she was  appointed, by the Court, to be the McKean County Guardian Ad Litem -- with the responsibility of representing the welfare of the County’s dependent children.  She was honored to serve the Court in that capacity for 9 years.  She was elected District Attorney in 2015 and began her first term of office in January 2016.

As District Attorney, Shaffer has prosecuted many noteworthy trials including:

The 2016 trial of a Bradford man for one of the largest cocaine operations in County history – and then securing the forfeiture of his home to the people of McKean County; 

The 2017 conviction of a Marshburg man for Homicide by Vehicle for hitting a young motorcycle driver with his truck in Cyclone and fleeing the scene while the victim died in the roadway;

The 2018 conviction of a Bradford man for the 1^st Drug Delivery Resulting in Death case in the County’s history;

The 2019 conviction of a Bradford man for strangulation and aggravated assault on a woman and secured a sentence of 10-20 years due to a prior crime of violence;

The 2020 conviction of a Foster Township man for rape and burglary; and

And the 2021 conviction of a Mount Jewett man for sex crimes against three minor children at various locations in McKean County.

Shaffer has addressed or attended over 150 civic groups or events on topics such as child abuse, sexual violence, safety to first responders, scams targeting the elderly, gun rights, and school safety.  She also testified before the Center for Rural Pennsylvania on the opioid crisis.

Shaffer is currently working on an anti-drug campaign for elementary-aged children with the creation of a coloring book featuring a narcotics -detecting K9 that works for the McKean County Drug Task Force, which operates out of the District Attorney’s Office.  The K9, named “LG” regularly accompanies Shaffer to events.

In addition to the anti-drug message, the campaign is designed to promote a pro-police message to young children and reminds them that “police officers are our friend.” 

Shaffer has lived in McKean County for 27 years.  She has served on the Boards of the United Way, the YWCA, the Guidance Center, and Northwest Legal Services.  She continues to support local agencies, including the McKean County SPCA and Kids and Cancer.  Currently, she is a Board Member of the Bradford Exchange Club and the ELF (Era’s Less Fortunate) fund.  She and her husband, Brian, reside in Foster Township.

DA@mckeancountypa.org

Telephone:  (814) 887-3312