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Prosecutor seeks pay increase for deputies, extra clerical help and office space as VOCA exposure prompts staffing concerns
Summary
The Prosecuting Attorney asked the Council for a 5% raise for deputy prosecutors, additional clerical hires to process habitual driving‑without‑license cases and office expansion after rent rose dramatically for Ali'i Place; the office also flagged federal VOCA funding that supports victim‑witness counselors.
Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alme told the Committee on Budget that his office's FY‑26 request centers on keeping prosecutors and support staff competitive and handling a growing misdemeanor workload.
Alme said the office will request a 5% raise for deputy prosecutors to keep entry pay closer to comparable government attorneys. "That would raise the minimum salary from 93,000 to 98,000," Alme said, describing the step as a competitiveness measure to retain trial‑experienced lawyers.
The office also requested three additional clerical positions to handle data entry and court intake tied to the new habitual offender rules for driving without a license. Alme told the Council there are "about 80 driving without license cases a week on Oahu," and fingerprinting and data entry workload has risen because the Police Department now fingerprints convicted defendants at court.
Separately, Alme described a substantial rent increase for the office's Ali'i Place space: rent has risen from approximately $1.6 million in 2023 to about $2.5 million in FY‑26 even though the office's square footage has not increased. The office had sought more space to relieve crowding, and Alme said a new owner offered a favorable lease for roughly half a floor that would let the office spread out; that expansion request was not approved in the administration's budget.
Prosecuting Attorney staff and Chief of Staff Paul Maugh flagged federal funding exposure: the victim/witness program relies substantially on VOCA grants and the office estimates roughly 11 positions are federally funded and could be vulnerable if VOCA or other grant programs are cut. Maugh urged the Council to consider the cost of sustained overtime and the difficulty of substituting general fund dollars for grant funds on short notice.
Alme also briefed the Council on the office's community policing programs, including the Safe and Sound initiative on the West Side and other neighborhood public‑safety collaborations, and said prosecutors are tracking gun‑related crimes and homicide increases in certain neighborhoods even as overall crime declined.
No formal vote was taken; the office's requests will be part of the FY‑26 appropriation process and subject to Council review and the City budget schedule.
