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Prosecutor wins approval for criminal intelligence analyst and victim advocate positions after split vote
Summary
The county approved two positions requested by the prosecutor’s office — a criminal intelligence/forensic analyst and an additional victim advocate — following debate on workload, costs and use of outside providers; the vote was 4–3 on the final motion.
Prosecuting Attorney Vicki Becker asked the Elkhart County commissioners to approve two staff additions: a criminal intelligence analyst who performs forensic downloads and analysis of digital devices, and a victim advocate position to provide statutorily mandated notifications and support for victims.
“The role of the victim advocate is mandated by statute,” Becker said, adding that victim advocates provide notifications about meaningful hearings and plea negotiations and that advocates have training in victim services. On the criminal analyst position she told the board those analysts have been “absolutely pivotal in numerous… almost all of the murder cases” in which they have been used, describing examples in which analyst work placed suspects at scenes and helped prosecutors present timeline evidence to juries.
Becker explained the forensic work is typically performed under court orders (search warrants) and can require significant time and specialized software and hardware. She said cell‑phone downloads and forensic examinations often take many hours and that recent investigations have included large numbers of phones — she cited instances of 11 phones in a homicide investigation and about 25 phones after a mass shooting — which stretched existing staff and equipment.
Commissioners debated whether the county should hire in‑house or use regional or private contract providers and discussed cost and custody/chain‑of‑custody issues. Becker said contracting outside would likely cost about three times more than hiring in‑house staff while creating additional logistic steps; she also offered to provide fuller annual statistics to the council.
A motion to approve both positions passed on a roll call vote (4 yes, 3 no). Commissioners who voted yes noted the workload from serious cases and the difficulty of timely forensic analysis; commissioners who voted no cited headcount concerns and urged local police departments to assume more of the workload where feasible.
Ending Becker said the new positions would be focused on the most serious cases and that the office will limit routine use to preserve analyst capacity for homicides and other major investigations. The prosecutor offered to provide annual statistics on analyst use and case hours to the commissioners.
