Glynn County district attorney says office is understaffed, requests authorization to fill positions and resume county payroll disbursements

District Attorney Keith Higgins told the Glynn County Board of Commissioners on Jan. 21 that his office is “severely understaffed” and requested authorization to fill vacant positions and resume county payroll disbursements to stabilize staffing and retain employees.

Higgins said the office had four assistant district attorneys currently handling Glynn County caseloads and that the local prosecutors carry more than 600 open felony cases. “We are severely understaffed,” he said, arguing that insufficient staffing increases backlog and costs to taxpayers by slowing case processing.

Higgins presented a staffing plan he said would fit within the amount appropriated for FY2025, which he identified as $1,300,977. He asked the board to authorize the county-funded positions in that plan so he could hire immediately for a receptionist and a legal assistant and to authorize an assistant district attorney 2 position to retain a grant-funded prosecutor whose grant ends Feb. 1. He said he could add an assistant district attorney 1 on June 1 if the budget allows.

Higgins also described cash-flow and accounting problems. He said the office has been receiving payroll reimbursements from several counties in the circuit but that those distributions have changed after other counties moved employees to their payrolls; as a result he said his office’s monthly county disbursements have decreased and that the DA’s office has not received county funds for two recent pay periods. He asked the board to resume disbursing payroll directly to the employees or to approve a process that ensures checks arrive before payday.

Finance staff (Miss Munson) and county officials questioned some line items. Munson said the county’s approved FY2025 budget total for the DA’s office is $1,300,977 and that historically 5% court-fee distributions have been included in that total. Higgins cited OCGA §15‑21‑132(a)(2) and argued that 5% fee distributions should be “in addition to rather than in lieu of” county funding; finance staff said the budgeting practice has historically included those fees in the final published total. The two offices differed on whether the fees should be added to or shown separately from the base appropriation.

Higgins offered an annual grant of $132,493 to be paid quarterly to Glynn County under an intergovernmental agreement to fund two additional victim-advocate positions and said the grant would allow immediate hires if accepted. He said that, with approval to use the full FY2025 appropriation and with the grant, he could fill a receptionist, legal assistant and the investigator and still remain within the year’s budget for payroll.

Commissioners did not vote on the staffing plan in the work session; Higgins asked the board to authorize the positions before Feb. 1 so he could retain a grant-funded attorney whose grant ends Jan. 31. Commissioners said they would take the request under advisement and indicated they could schedule further action or a special meeting to consider authorization.