HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s top law enforcement office is starting a conviction integrity unit to review past convictions for mistakes that might result in them being overturned, officials said Wednesday.

Lisa Lazzari-Strasiser, the former chief public defender in Cambria County and former Somerset County District Attorney, will lead the unit in Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s office.

The unit is designed to provide county district attorneys with the resources to analyze past convictions, Shapiro’s office said. Only a handful of county district attorneys have a unit devoted to reviewing convictions.

Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger welcomed the news, but said his office, which prosecutes cases in the county, is already vigilant about not prosecuting innocent people. Since the county is smaller than neighboring Allegheny County, Goldinger said his office doesn’t need a team devoted to reviewing cases.

“We do a good job with weeding out our cases. I don’t think we have bad convictions or that we prosecuted cases without evidence,” Goldinger said.

Goldinger said he believed Lazzari-Strasiser would do a good job.

“I think it’s a good thing to have. Obviously, we don’t want anyone convicted who didn’t commit the crime,” Goldinger said.

The move comes as reformers have aggressively questioned Pennsylvania’s criminal justice practices. Local attorney Al Lindsay said the move is important in helping innocent people get out of wrongful convictions.

“Anything to bolster post conviction rights is important. We have a lot of people who are innocent imprisoned,” Lindsay said. “It’s a real problem.”

Lindsay said that in the state, post-conviction rights have been “watered down “ over the years by appellate courts.

He also noted that the problem often comes from jurors who don’t understand the concept that prosecutors have to prove a crime was committed by a defendant beyond a reasonable doubt.

“What a lot of juries don’t understand is you can’t appeal a verdict. So if a jury makes a decision, they’re stuck with it. They’re guilty for the rest of their lives. It’s a terrible thing. People don’t get what it’s like to be convicted,” Lindsay said.

But Goldinger said it’s too early to know how the new unit will work with counties. He said details haven’t been provided yet.

In Philadelphia, District Attorney Larry Krasner has secured exonerations in 12 cases since taking office in 2018.

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who chairs the Board of Pardons, has encouraged people with nonviolent marijuana-related convictions to apply for a pardon, and has gone prison-to-prison encouraging inmates serving life sentences to apply for a reduced sentence.

In the Capitol, Gov. Tom Wolf has urged lawmakers to reform the state’s probation system, including putting a limit on the length of time a person can be on probation.

Eagle staff writer Eric Jankiewicz contributed to this report.