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State's Attorneys and Sheriffs warn of heavy caseloads, request paralegals, victim advocates and deputies to reduce backlog
Summary
Department leaders said the State's Attorneys and Sheriffs' office staffs most criminal cases statewide and reported a decline in pending cases from 26,000 to 23,000 since last year, but officials said employees are strained and requested a mix of attorney and non-attorney positions to address backlog and operational needs.
Tim Peters Dumont, executive director of the Department of State's Attorneys and Sheriffs, told the House appropriations committee on Feb. 12 that the department is carrying large caseloads and is requesting new and converted positions to reduce backlog and operational pressure.
"We are staffing in our department 99% of the criminal cases, 98 percent of the homicides," Dumont said in his opening remarks, summarizing the department's statewide role. He said the number of pending cases fell from about 26,000 a year ago to about 23,000 as of December, a roughly 3,000-case improvement, but that the department remains strained.
Why it matters: Department leaders said higher volumes of violent and complicated cases — including a recent rise in homicides and multi-county matters — are placing sustained pressure on locally elected state's attorneys and their staffs. Officials argued some work can be handled by non-attorney staff or shared across state agencies to preserve attorney time for complex prosecutions.
Requested staff and functions - Attorney and legal staff: requests discussed include converting some limited-service positions to permanent status and adding deputy state's attorneys where possible. - Non-attorney and support roles: the department requested six paralegals, six administrative support staff, one docket manager, one fiscal support staff, one IT support staff, a PCR (post-conviction relief) specialist attorney, and six victim advocates. - Operational roles: six state transport deputies to support court-ordered transports and reduce scheduling delays.
Additional operational pressures Officials told the committee that average individual attorney caseloads are commonly in the 300–400 cases range, that the department handled roughly 7,000 pending felonies and 13,000 pending misdemeanors in the snapshot presented, and that some victim advocates carry about 600 cases each. Dumont and staff also raised administrative burdens such as body-camera review, management of digital-evidence portals and public-records requests as drivers of attorney time.
Vacancy savings and the governor's recommendation Committee members pressed Dumont on vacancy savings in the current budget. Committee staff noted a required vacancy savings figure of $649,126 in the proposed budget; Dumont said that implementing vacancy savings would likely mean leaving positions unfilled or relying on limited-service hires and that the governor's recommended adjustments did not include most of the department's requested new permanent positions. Officials asked for legislative consideration of converting existing limited-service slots to permanent positions and for targeted new hires to reduce reliance on deputy attorneys for tasks that paralegals or other staff could perform.
Ending No formal appropriations decisions were made at the hearing; Dumont said the department would return with additional detail if the committee requested it.
