Two months on the job and she's already had significant cases in the county. 

Lisa Lazzari-Strasiser is gearing up for the upcoming court term now, but she's highlighting one of her biggest challenges: To keep drugs off the streets.

She's not just following the books, she's writing them. Lazzari-Strasiser is empowering girls by being the first female Chief Public Defender in Cambria County representing the public. Now that she's in Somerset County, she is prosecuting them. 

"I think, I couldn't have asked for better training. In a sense, it's still within the criminal justice system. So, it's not different in that sense, it's just now that I'm in the position to make the decision to prosecute or not," Lazzari-Strasiser said.

She is facing some of her biggest competition: The war on drugs.

"I think there's a significant problem in Somerset County, but I don't think it's any different than any adjacent counties or state-wide counties. It's just a problem and if it's not addressed, it's only going to get worse," Lazzari-Strasiser said. 

The D.A. said the drug problem could be behind even bigger accusations. 

"Even if it doesn't look like on its face that it's a drug case… the burglaries, the thefts, the retail thefts, the home invasions... 70-80% of the time relate back to a drug issue," Lazzari-Strasiser explained.

The concern has led Lazzari-Strasiser and her team to create a Drug Task Force. She's working with departments county-wide and is expecting for it to be up and running in the next few months.

"But we'll have the groundwork laid, and be in a place that we can really say that we're fully-operational, county-wide," Lazzari-Strasiser said.

Lazzari-Strasiser said she's heard a lot of support from the community and hopes that carries over into another term.