Douglas County’s justice partners presented multiple supplemental requests during the 2026 budget hearings July 8, including a request by district court to make an eviction resolution coordinator permanent and requests for increased pay or additional staffing from both the district court and the district attorney.

Katie Fitzgerald, criminal justice coordinator, told commissioners that district court has a supplemental request to make the eviction resolution coordinator position full time and permanent. That position was initially funded by a National Center for State Courts grant and, over a three‑year period, the grant share stepped down. District court described the position as supporting persons facing eviction by coordinating referrals, connecting tenants to self‑help and community services and reducing duplicative effort among agencies.

District court staff said the coordinator role has helped increase court appearances and contributed to a rise in dismissal orders for long‑inactive eviction filings. Brandy and Adelaide (first name in the transcript) were identified as staff connected to the program; Adelaide is the eviction resolution coordinator who works with the self‑help center and coordinates referrals to legal services and mediation.

“Adelaide has accomplished within that period of time,” a district court representative said when summarizing outcomes, and the court offered to share outcome data and dismissal statistics with commissioners for follow-up.

The district court also requested an increase to the panel-attorney stipend that covers counsel who accept child‑in‑need‑of‑care and similar civil appointments; Kansas Legal Services provided comparative data supporting an increase and advocates argued a higher monthly stipend would help retain experienced attorneys and keep continuity on complex civil dockets.

Dakota Loomis, the newly elected district attorney, presented two supplemental requests for the district attorney’s office: converting an allocated 0.4 assistant district attorney position to full time (to handle charging decisions and complex cases) and adding a legal assistant dedicated to juvenile caseloads. Loomis said converting the 0.4 position to full time is partly practical — the office had difficulty recruiting at the 0.4 FTE level — and said the 2026 market‑merit adjustments in the proposed budget would apply to law enforcement and the district attorney’s office countywide.

Loomis said the office is experiencing higher charging volume, a larger juvenile docket earlier in the year and a need for back‑office support so prosecutors can prepare cases and meet with families and victims. He described the staffing changes as important to reduce turnover and prevent triage that can delay charging, case preparation and victim contact.

Commissioners asked for outcome metrics and data. District court representatives said they could provide more detailed reports on eviction program referrals, dismissal orders and the monthly case audits for warrants. Kansas Legal Services and members of the sync panel offered to provide their comparative pay data and justification for increasing the panel stipend.

No formal votes were taken; commissioners signaled they will review the submitted data and consider whether to fund the requests during the budget deliberation process.