Early Education and Career
Mackenzie Babichenko is an experienced and dedicated career prosecutor, known for her commitment to justice. Born and raised in northeastern Ohio, she pursued her early education at The George Washington University, graduating Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Forensic Chemistry with minors in Physics and Psychology. She later earned her Juris Doctor, Cum Laude, from the University of Miami Miller School of Law.
Mackenzie embarked on her legal career in Portsmouth, Virginia, as an Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney working for the Honorable Earle Mobley. Even before her bar results arrived, her commitment to protecting the vulnerable was taking shape: she volunteered with — and went on to serve as Volunteer Coordinator for — HER Shelter, a domestic-violence shelter in Portsmouth.
About Mackenzie
Hanover County Years of Service
In 2014, Mackenzie was welcomed into the Hanover Commonwealth's Attorney's Office. Over the next decade she was promoted through every level of the office — Assistant, Senior Assistant, and then Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney — before the voters of Hanover County elected her to lead it, the first woman ever to serve as the county's top prosecutor.
In office, Mackenzie has built a record that is both tough and effective. She aggressively prosecutes violent and repeat offenders, fentanyl distribution, organized retail theft, and human trafficking, while standing beside those impacted by crime through victim-centered, trauma-informed advocacy and full compliance with the Victims' Bill of Rights. Through Hanover's Adult Recovery Court, she has also championed an accountable, second-chance path for the right cases — proof that a safe community can also be a compassionate one.
Committees, Boards and Professional Affiliations
Protecting children and other vulnerable members of the community remains her most distinctive work. She contributes to the Child Abuse Multidisciplinary Team (in partnership with Greater Richmond SCAN) and the Sexual Abuse Response Team, is an affiliate member of Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC), and advances youth and vulnerable-population safety through the Hanover Safe Place Board, the Hanover Cares Board, and the Bon Secours Violence Response Team Advisory Board. Appointed by Governor Youngkin to the Virginia Commission on Youth, she serves on several work groups developing legislative recommendations on issues such as Child Advocacy Center funding and oversight of youth-serving agencies.
Education and outreach are a priority. Mackenzie partnered with the Indigent Defense Commission to train defense attorneys to identify and assist trafficking victims — a rare cross-aisle initiative — and has presented to the Virginia Association of Regional Jails, the Human Trafficking Institute, and law-enforcement and prosecutor audiences through ICAC and CASC trainings. She is a contributor to Virginia CLE's Serious Traffic Offenses (2025) and also a regular guest presenter at Randolph-Macon College and J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College. Additionally, she supports Hanover County Public Schools' criminal-justice course and Gifted & Talented program as well as the Hanover County Bar Association's "So You're 18."
Mackenzie stays active across the profession. She chairs the Community Criminal Justice Board, serves on the Legislative Watch Team and Legislative Committee of the Virginia Association of Commonwealth's Attorneys, represents the 15th Circuit on the Virginia State Bar Council, and sits on the Bar's Criminal Law Section Board of Governors and Executive Board (2026–2027). She works closely with the Hanover Sheriff's Office, the Ashland Police Department, the Virginia State Police, and state legislators — partnerships that have helped move several criminal-justice bills into law. In 2021 she served as Republican co-chair of the Virginia Redistricting Commission, a bipartisan statewide appointment.
Family
Today, Mackenzie resides in the Mt. Hermon area, in the center of Hanover County, with her husband, Igor, and their three children. As she seeks re-election as Commonwealth's Attorney, she brings a proven record and the same steadfast dedication to justice, fairness, and the safety of the community she has provided for more than a decade.