Salt Lake City justice system reports rising caseloads; legal defenders pilot Project Rio shows early reductions in repeat arrests

Salt Lake City officials told the City Council on May 29, 2015, that filings and hearings at the city justice court have grown since 2022 and that the volume of active criminal cases is outpacing recent resolutions, creating a growing backlog.

The issue was discussed during a presentation by Ben Ledecky, a city policy analyst, and representatives from the city prosecutor's office and the Salt Lake Legal Defender Association (LDA). Ben Ledecky said the justice court has seen “a significant sharp increase” in hearings in early 2025 and that total case filings for fiscal 2025 (through March) trailed pre‑pandemic highs but were rising. He noted an average of about 3,500 case filings per month over the last 12 months and said that, if that pace continued, filings could rise from roughly 30,570 to as much as about 41,000 by fiscal year end.

Richard Morrow, executive director of the Salt Lake Legal Defender Association, described Project Rio, a roughly one‑year pilot funded by a federal earmark and local partnerships that places caseworkers and peer specialists with clients. “We have 3 people in our office that we have designated to do that,” Morrow said, adding that those staff coordinate with the jail’s mental‑health unit and provide continuity of medication and transportation assistance. Morrow said preliminary internal data after about five months “has been really encouraging” and indicated fewer repeat arrests for some high‑utilizer individuals.

Presenters listed two modest budget items aimed at easing workload: $56,000 to replace an aging Prosecutor Information Management System (PIMS) with a system called eProsecutor and a pending Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) grant that would fund two victim advocate positions for two years if awarded. Ledecky said those items were expected to improve records handling and victim services but cautioned the VOCA award had not been confirmed.

Officials warned that expanding court capacity—an idea under discussion—would carry substantial costs and interdependencies. Ledecky said a package to add a sixth justice court judge could require up to 13 full‑time employees and more than $1.7 million in annual staffing costs in a high‑end scenario, and he noted office space constraints in the justice court. The administration said city code currently caps justice court judges at five full‑time judges and up to three part‑time judges and that a code amendment would be needed to increase the cap.

Council members and presenters described Project Rio and related efforts (familiar‑faces court, peer specialists, jail reentry coordination) as promising ways to reduce repeated contacts for a small number of high‑utilizer individuals. Presenters emphasized the need for improved and standardized data to distinguish case types and better measure workload, and multiple council members requested quicker, more detailed reporting on case composition and program metrics.

The council did not take formal action in the work session; staff said they would follow up with additional data, grant‑award updates and options for coding or funding changes in future briefings.

Ending: City staff said they will return with more detailed workload data, updates on the VOCA grant decision and further cost estimates for capacity options; council members asked for continued progress reports on Project Rio metrics and clearer breakdowns of case types.