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State’s Attorney says caseload and digital evidence growth justify new staff; commissioners set $250,000 planning allocation
Summary
State’s Attorney Richard Fritz presented staffing and evidence-processing requests citing heavier caseloads, more electronic evidence and backlog. Commissioners accepted the county administrator recommendation and recorded a $250,000 planning allocation while reclassifications are finalized.
State’s Attorney Richard Fritz told commissioners March 8 that the office’s caseload and the volume of digital evidence have grown substantially and that the office needs additional operational support to process evidence, pursue asset forfeiture and manage grants.
“This is my 20th year at the state attorney’s office. ... the two biggest to me are the intersection of criminal events and the enormous amount of evidence that is prepared and collected and presented at trial,” Fritz said, describing increases in video, jail calls and other electronic evidence. He said the office had hired an evidence analyst last year but still needs additional capacity in the district court and for fiscal/grant work.
Fritz presented a package that included new positions such as electronic evidence analysts, an operations manager and a fiscal coordinator to pursue grants and criminal asset forfeiture work. He said some requested positions overlap with reclassification work HR is completing; if reclassification addresses certain senior legal-coordinator needs, some of the newly requested FTEs can be removed. Commissioners asked about vacancies and staffing levels; Fritz said the office currently had roughly 44 employees and about four vacancies being filled.
After discussion — including commissioners’ preference to avoid duplicate reclassifications and to consider HR’s recommendations — the commissioners agreed to include $250,000 in planning funds for the state’s attorney’s office in the recap. County staff said reclassification cost impacts (HR) would be reported back next week and that any overlap would be reconciled before final budget adoption.
Why it matters: the request reflects workload changes in criminal justice systems — more electronic evidence and interconnected cases — and poses staffing and resource choices that affect case processing, trial readiness and victim restitution collection.
Next steps: HR and the finance office will finalize reclassification costs and the county will reconcile duplicate FTE requests. Commissioners asked staff to return with a revised package that incorporates reclassifications and clarifies which new FTEs are still needed.
