Prosecuting Attorneys Association outlines staffing, funding and forensic-capacity concerns to Judiciary Committee

Representatives of the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan (PAAM) briefed the House Judiciary Committee on statewide prosecutorial priorities and challenges, including difficulty filling prosecutor positions in some counties, disparities in funding relative to indigent defense, delays at the state forensic center, and the rollout of the CARPEL electronic case-management system.

Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker, speaking for PAAM, said the association is voluntary, represents prosecutors across 83 counties and provides statewide training and legislative coordination. Becker said Ontonagon County currently does not have a prosecutor and several smaller counties struggle to recruit assistant prosecutors.

Becker highlighted training units paid through state and federal funding that support traffic-safety prosecutions, crash reconstruction, child-abuse forensic interviews, juvenile and school-safety prosecution and other specialized areas. Becker described CARPEL, the association's electronic case-management system, as a major statewide benefit that allows prosecutors quick access to files and which PAAM and its vendors are working to bridge with the statewide SCALE court case-management platform.

Becker outlined funding concerns: he said Michigan indigent defense received about $330 million last year and that PAAM was to receive $15 million but had not seen that funding. He said disparities exist between defender offices and county prosecutor offices in staffing and responsibilities; as an example he contrasted the 37 defenders in Kent County's defender office with 37 assistant prosecutors and explained many prosecutors carry specialized workloads (child-support, juvenile, appeals) that defenders do not.

Becker also described casework volume and complexity. He said the association issued approximately 707,834 case reviews statewide in the prior year and that some cases involve thousands of pages of reports and evidence that must be reviewed by a single prosecutor. He cited a cold-case sexual-abuse prosecution involving thousands of pages of material and hundreds of pieces of evidence introduced at trial to illustrate workload intensity.

On forensic-capacity issues, Becker said competency evaluations average about 90 days but criminal-responsibility (forensic) exams can take roughly a year, resulting in detained defendants remaining in county jails while awaiting evaluation. Becker and PAAM urged legislative attention to delays at the forensic center and to continued funding for treatment courts and other diversion programs, while noting prosecutors are active participants in treatment-court models.

Committee members asked about the CARPEL system's compatibility with SCALE and with evidence feeds; Brandon Lanyon of PAAM said PAAM is in communication with SCALE and has existing bridges to state crime-lab systems and commonly used vendor systems and does not foresee integration obstacles.

Becker told the committee that PAAM supports truth-in-sentencing measures and highlighted redaction of victim information from publicly released materials as another issue for legislative consideration.

Committee members thanked the presenters and indicated follow-up on several issues, including forensic delays and funding.