Lake County DA says digital evidence, competency cases and rising violent crime strain office; requests additional funding

Heidi McCollum, Fifth Judicial District Attorney, told the Lake County Board of County Commissioners during a work session that her office needs additional funding to keep up with growing demands from digital evidence, competency cases and a rising violent-crime docket. McCollum said she will submit a clarified budget request to county finance staff after working with county managers.

McCollum said the Fifth Judicial District's caseload and operational pressures are driven not only by total case counts but by the complexity of certain case types and new statutory requirements. "We paid out to victims in the Fifth Judicial District more money than the entire state of Vermont," McCollum said, describing the scope of the crime victim compensation program her office manages. She also warned that digital evidence review is a major new driver of workload: in one felony case she sampled, staff had to review "196 hours of body worn camera in one case," which she said amounts to "40 hours a week doing nothing but watching body worn camera for 4 and a half weeks in one case."

Why it matters: McCollum told commissioners that these…