District Attorney Richard Goldinger

While many offices use the end of the year to organize and file the year’s paperwork, it’s business as usual at the Butler County District Attorney’s Office.

District Attorney Richard Goldinger said that, similar to 2024, crime was down overall in 2025. He said the county is on the same pace as it was in 2024, which was one of the lowest years for crime since the county’s population began growing. Where he’s seen an increase has been in crimes involving gun violence — specifically in the city of Butler.

“I’d like to see the violence come down for sure,” Goldinger said. “There’s been too much gun violence in our town.”

Goldinger said he wants to see gun violence reduced with more law enforcement initiatives and investigations across jurisdictions. That kind of work has contributed to a decrease in overdose deaths from 35 to 20 in Butler County between 2024 and 2025.

The City of Butler also saw an uptick in criminal cases filed. There were 447 criminal cases filed in District Judge William Fullerton’s office on Dec. 23 compared to 364 filed by the same time last year.

Goldinger clarified the increase correlates with more arrests being made and does not necessarily mean more crimes are being committed. He credited Butler City police with making more arrests while down a number of officers earlier in the year.

Goldinger added he still has several homicide cases pending in the county, but he said there have been a handful of homicides each year for around the past 10 years. He said homicides in the county tend to be drug-related.

Where Butler County has seen an increase in 2025 is in the number of charges filed involving child sex crimes. Goldinger attributed the increase in cases filed to the Children's Advocacy Center of Butler County for creating a comfortable environment for children to come forward.

“We can’t have that here. This is not that kind of town,” Goldinger said.