Derek L. Marchman

Derek L. Marchman | Crime Victims’ Rights Award
President, Marchman Consulting
Conyers, Georgia

Derek Marchman has developed and implemented programs affecting victims and the victims’ rights movement for the last 30 years in the State of Georgia and nationwide.

Mr. Marchman began his criminal justice career as a Probation Officer, and then moved on to working with state legislators to improve crime victim services.

At the Georgia Governor’s Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, Mr. Marchman helped shape the victim assistance field by enhancing and increasing services and funding for victims of crime. He led efforts that resulted in the passage of Georgia’s Victim Bill of Rights and Georgia’s Family Violence Act. With these successes behind him, Governor Zell Miller sent Mr. Marchman to the Nation’s capital to help Georgia’s senators and then-Senator Joe Biden pass the Violence Against Women Act.

During his tenure as Director of the Georgia Victims’ Compensation Program, Mr. Marchman helped enact institutional changes that promoted the availability of victims’ assistance funds to prosecutors, sheriffs, and chiefs. He worked to have legislators add a percentage to fines and lobbied to have a percentage of parole fees paid into the Crime Victims Fund.

Almost 25 years later, many of the procedures are still in place, awarding more than $20 million to over 4,800 survivors annually. To ensure victims’ voices were heard, Mr. Marchman worked with the Georgia Peace Officer Standards Training to incorporate the Georgia Victim Bill of Rights and the Victims’ Compensation Program into required law enforcement in-person training.

Because of his experience, Mr. Marchman was called to run the victim assistance efforts in response to the 1996 Olympics bombing in Atlanta. He worked 86 straight hours to ensure all victims had their medical bills, family, travel, and privacy issues addressed. State Olympic Law Enforcement Command Chief of Staff Gary McConnell and Governor Zen Miller recognized his extraordinary actions.

Feeling a call to do more to advocate for victims’ rights, he established a consulting firm, which allowed him to demonstrate leadership and teamwork. He was able to build strong collaborations for change by bringing together different groups and fostering visionary thinking, initiatives, innovative methods, and creative ideas.

As a motivating speaker he has made presentations to the National Organization for Victim Assistance, to first responders at a memorial for the Oklahoma Bombing, and to various collegiate athletic programs and Greek organizations. His lectures and trains on topics including psychology, dating violence, cultural diversity, and character issues have motivated and inspired countless leaders around the country.