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Franklin County adopts revised prosecutor pay scale, creates two senior positions; board eliminates one vacant post
Summary
After months of recruitment struggles and testimony about rising caseloads, the Board of Commissioners approved a revised pay schedule and creation of two senior deputy positions for the prosecutor’s office, with an amendment eliminating a currently vacant DPA 2 post to offset budget impact.
Franklin County commissioners approved a revised pay schedule for the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and authorized creation of two higher-level deputy prosecuting attorney (DPA) positions at their Feb. 26 meeting, with an amendment removing a vacant DPA 2 position from the office’s authorized roster.
The change, proposed by county staff and presented to the board by Jeff Briggs, aims to raise senior attorney pay closer to neighboring jurisdictions to improve recruitment and retention. Commissioners voted to approve the resolution as amended; the board’s chair announced the motion “passes.”
The county’s prosecutor and office staff told commissioners they have lost experienced senior attorneys in recent months and are operating at a substantially reduced capacity. “We are a nation of law and order,” Chief Criminal Deputy Maureen Asley wrote in a statement read to the board. “I have been a prosecutor for 16 years, all of which I proudly served here in Franklin County… The county will lose me and others if your clear message is that you do not care to fund our prosecutor’s office.”
Briggs told the board the office has used temporary incentives while it developed a longer-term pay structure. He said exit interviews and a CONSOR benchmarking study show Franklin County’s senior prosecutorial pay lags Benton, Grant and Yakima counties. “Our proposal… brings us closer to what they’re making,” he said during the presentation.
Prosecutor’s office leaders described operational consequences from turnover: cases reassigned between deputies, more work for remaining attorneys and delays for victims. The office estimated current staffing is down “about 42%” and warned that, with another impending departure, its criminal division would fall to roughly a 53% staffing shortfall. Staff and commissioners described steps to keep the change budget-neutral in 2025, including delaying the pay step increases until July and leaving one senior slot unfilled as an offset. County staff also said a rough estimate of the incremental cost in 2026 — if all positions are filled at the new levels — would be approximately $100,000 in additional salary and benefits.
Commissioners debated timing and fiscal impact. Commissioner Baumann and others asked for clearer multi‑year budget projections before finalizing a permanent change; Commissioner Balwin offered the motion to approve the resolution amended to eliminate the vacant DPA 2 position, saying eliminating that slot would reduce the county’s long‑term exposure. The motion carried.
The board directed staff to return with financial detail as part of regular budget monitoring and to work with the prosecutor’s office on recruitment and retention efforts, including outreach to law students through the state Rule 9 limited license program that allows supervised law students to work in prosecutorial offices.
Votes at a glance: the resolution creating the new DPA 4/DPA 5 positions and adjusting the pay schedule was approved by the board as amended to eliminate the vacant DPA 2 position (motion and voice vote; amendment adopted; board announced motion passes).
