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Prosecution Commission seeks recurring funds for circuit support, training and technology
Summary
Lisa Catalonado, executive director of the Prosecution Commission, told the subcommittee the commission needs modest operating increases to cover training licensing and software replacement, plus larger recurring support for solicitors’ circuit needs and an $8 million tiered prosecution grant proposal tied to docket-management goals.
Lisa Catalonado, executive director of the Prosecution Commission, presented the commission’s budget request to the Criminal Justice Budget Subcommittee and described both modest agency operating needs and larger funding to support solicitors’ offices statewide.
Catalonado told the committee the commission’s small-agency operating request includes $1,004,000 in recurring expenses and $16,375 in nonrecurring costs. She said recurring items cover an increase in Continuing Legal Education sponsor fees and licensing and support costs for replacement event-registration and legislative platforms. The nonrecurring portion covers a Cisco switch replacement and implementation costs for the software migrations.
Catalonado also described two larger requests on behalf of solicitors’ offices. She said the commission proposes a $4,200,000 recurring increase to Judicial Circuit state support to help pay for recurring technology costs and non-attorney support staff (victim advocates, investigators and other office staff). The commission said the distribution would continue as a mix of about 30% pro rata and 70% per-capita allocation.
On a separate item, Catalonado outlined an $8,000,000 prosecution grant program proposal to support a three-tier prosecution model tied to the Supreme Court’s 2023 docket-management order. She handed further explanation to Fourteenth Circuit Solicitor Duffy Stone, who described circuit-level experience with a similar model and said the approach improved throughput.
Catalonado also reported recruitment and hiring progress across solicitors’ offices: the original hiring target of 79 prosecutors was exceeded, with the commission reporting 125 hires and an overall increase from about 385 to 435 prosecutors during the recent funding period.
No votes or formal actions were taken during the presentation. Catalonado said the commission aims to be frugal in operations and asked the subcommittee to consider the recurring support and the prosecution-tier grant alongside the broader docket-management goals set by the Supreme Court.
Ending: The commission requested the subcommittee fund a mix of operating, circuit-support and grant dollars to continue technology upgrades, training and staffing support for solicitors’ offices across the state.
