Committee approves $150,000 budget adjustment to pay FAIR Michigan for prosecutor office program serving LGBTQ victims

The Wayne County Commission Ways and Means Committee voted to approve a $150,000 budget adjustment to pay FAIR Michigan for work it provided to the prosecutor's office in fiscal year 2023-24, county staff said.

Tony Guerrero, chief of legislation, grants and community relations for Wayne County Prosecutor Kim Worthy, told the committee the adjustment (budget adjustment 202535102) implements resolution 2025-231 and covers costs for “an assistant prosecutor, an investigator, and a victim advocate” who were assigned to the FAIR Michigan project, a program targeting crimes against LGBTQ community members.

Guerrero and Terrence Adams, the prosecutor's chief fiscal adviser, told commissioners the payment was delayed after a series of administrative problems including a cyberattack in October 2024, and because the invoice was not received until recently. Adams said the money was budgeted in 2023-24 but was not accrued for payment in that fiscal year; the committee's action recertified the funds in the current year so FAIR Michigan can be paid for last year's work.

Guerrero later provided case statistics in the public-comment portion: for 2023'24 the FAIR Michigan project reviewed eight felony warrants, seven warrants were issued, five cases resulted in pleas to lesser offenses and two resulted in convictions at trial.

Why it matters: county staff said this is not new recurring discretionary money; rather, it is payment for services already performed in 2023'24 that had not been paid because of paperwork and invoicing delays. Commissioners asked for and were promised additional operational details, including case counts and service breakdowns, by email.

Ending: Committee members supported forwarding the adjustment to the full commission for final action as part of the day's consolidated motions.