Committee approves budget memo prioritizing conversion of limited‑service prosecutors to permanent roles; contingency fund moved down list

A Judiciary subcommittee voted Feb. 26 to approve a budget memo for submission to the county Appropriations Committee that elevates converting limited‑service state’s‑attorney positions into permanent roles and reorders several funding requests.

The memo, which the subcommittee approved by voice vote, groups funding requests into two tiers. Tier 1 keeps several priorities — including pre‑charge diversion, state transport deputies and victim support — and places the state’s attorneys’ top ask, converting limited‑service positions to permanent positions, among its highest priorities. The memo moves a requested contingency fund for victim services into tier 2.

The conversion of limited‑service positions is the state’s attorneys’ highest priority, the memo says; a committee member noted the conversion’s immediate budgetary impact at roughly $350,000. Committee members discussed timing tied to the payroll calendar: the final payroll period in the FY25 budget ends June 14, and the personnel action form (PAR) from the Department of Human Resources must be filed to complete conversions.

Annie, Human Resources staff, explained the schedule and assurances to employees: "If this passes, we will let people know you're okay. The position is being converted and we'll we have the money in the budget for 7 of the 9 that we're given. So we can keep floating them, like, and just say you're going to be moved to a permanent number as soon as the Department of Human Resources puts through what they call the personnel action form, P A R," she said. "So we should be okay. And we should be able to make sure that nobody gets let go during that period of time." The staff member also said converting the limited‑service roles and making them permanent could strengthen recruitment efforts for several deputy state’s‑attorney openings that have been hard to fill.

Committee members pressed for clarity on several items during discussion. One member questioned changes to clearance‑rate goals for the case backlog and noted past targets; that member said their remarks were offered as clarification rather than disagreement. Another member asked why the contingency fund request was moved to tier 2; the chair said the committee treated contingency funding as less immediately definite than the other listed needs.

After discussion, the committee chair moved to approve the memo for submission to the Appropriations Committee; the motion was seconded and approved by the members present. During roll call the chair called for ayes; attendees voiced their support and the chair closed the vote.

The subcommittee chair said this memo is one piece of information the Appropriations Committee will use when weighing difficult funding decisions and that the committee will continue to hear from various stakeholders. The subcommittee adjourned until 9:00 a.m. the following day.