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District attorneys and public defenders press lawmakers for more staff and pay equity amid caseload concerns
Summary
The District Attorneys General Conference and the District Public Defenders Conference briefed the committee on staffing and funding needs, urging expanded positions, salary adjustments and sustained funding to address high caseloads, declining federal victim‑services dollars and recruitment/retention challenges.
The Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference and the Tennessee District Public Defenders Conference presented staffing requests and described workload pressure in front of the House Finance, Ways and Means Committee.
Steven Crump, executive director of the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference, summarized the DA offices’ requests and thanked the governor for funding many of their statutory step and hardware requests in the proposed budget. He described a recent survey of prosecutors’ needs across the state and said the conference’s asks were compiled from each elected district attorney: “The way we arrived at those positions, we surveyed each individual district, and we asked the district attorney in that district to tell us what your needs are.”
Crump emphasized the persistent need for investigator and victim‑services support and noted the DA conference is pursuing a workload study to bring current, district‑level data to the General Assembly.
Patrick Froge, executive director of the Tennessee District Public Defenders Conference, said public defenders are similarly stretched and that multiple independent workload‑study methodologies place the state tens to hundreds of attorneys short of recommended staff levels. Froge summarized national and state comparisons and said, “The average of all these say that we’re about a hundred lawyers short.” He described public defenders’ recent focus on hiring social workers and other non‑lawyer staff to address underlying needs that contribute to repeat involvement in the justice system.
Key themes from the law‑enforcement and defense presentations
- Staffing and retention: Both groups reported vacancies and high caseloads in many districts. DAs said recent appropriations filled many requests; public defenders asked for new assistant public defenders, investigators, secretaries and social workers to address uneven workloads and rising complexity.
- Salary equity and local funding: The public defenders noted pay disparities in county‑managed offices (Shelby and Davidson) and asked for parity measures; DAs discussed salary equity funding available in their accounts and the use of salary equity to staff positions locally.
- Victim services and VOCA concerns: DA representatives and committee members discussed declines in VOCA (Victims of Crime Act) federal funding and noted the importance of state approaches to cover potential shortfalls for victim assistance programs. The DA conference said it has been moving grant‑funded positions onto the recurring state payroll where possible to reduce vulnerability to federal funding changes.
- Data and workload studies: Both groups are pursuing updated, weighted caseload analyses using district‑level data and national weighting frameworks to quantify gaps and make targeted requests to the legislature.
Ending
Both conferences said they will continue to share detailed district‑level data with committee staff. The committee asked several follow‑up questions about the number of positions filled, the scale of vacancy rates and the interaction of federal grants with state pay decisions; both presenters said they would provide additional detail.
