Rockwall County district attorney requests staff and operating funds as new court expected

District Attorney Kenda Culpepper on Friday presented the Rockwall County Commissioners Court with the DA office's preliminary FY2026 budget request, saying the office needs additional prosecutors and support staff to staff a new district court the legislature has authorized.

Culpepper told commissioners she expects the new court to be funded by the state for the judge but that the county will have to pay for court-assigned staff. "The state pays for the judge, but the county has to pay for the staff associated with that court," Culpepper said in her presentation.

The DA asked the court to fund five positions assigned to the new felony court (two felony trial prosecutors, one felony investigator, one paralegal and one senior clerk), a dedicated financial-crimes prosecutor, and an additional victim-advocate coordinator (bringing the county-funded total to two general-fund VACCs and one grant-funded position). Culpepper said the five assigned court positions are a priority because prosecutors, investigators and paralegals function as a trial team that must be in place to support jury weeks and heavy docket days.

Why it matters: Culpepper emphasized caseload and complexity as the basis for the requests. She said felony case dispositions increased roughly 72% from 2020 to 2024; family-violence dispositions rose about 273% and child-abuse dispositions about 100% over the same period. She said trial-division prosecutors are handling caseloads "over 250 cases a piece" and described dockets with 46 to 60 calendar matters in a single day.

Culpepper outlined time and resource drains that accompany modern felony prosecutions: expanded discovery, thousands of pieces of evidence in major cases, body-worn camera footage and expert fees. "In my murder case that I tried last year, there were 30,000 pieces of evidence," she said, adding that some forensic analyses from state labs (DPS) can take 18 months and private experts have to be engaged when prompt trial-ready results are needed.

Funding sources and restricted funds: Culpepper described a mix of funding that supports portions of the DA operation: general-fund personnel for court-assigned staff, grant-funded prosecutors and VACCs for limited positions, juror-donation funds that support the veterans court, and a restrained forfeiture fund governed by statute for law-enforcement-related expenditures. She said the DA forfeiture fund currently holds about $180,000 and that law-library funds total roughly $233,000; both are restricted by statute and cannot be diverted to general fund purposes.

Requests and justification (selected): - Five assigned court positions for the new felony court (2 felony trial prosecutors, 1 felony investigator, 1 paralegal, 1 senior clerk). Culpepper said those five are necessary for the court to function and called them her priority staffing request. - One additional victim-advocate coordinator funded from the general fund to increase victim contact and services countywide; currently the office has one general-fund VACC and one grant-funded VACC. - Financial-crimes prosecutor; Culpepper said Rockwall County's demographics and case patterns produce complex white-collar matters that benefit from a dedicated specialist. - Investigator vehicle replacement: Culpepper asked to add a vehicle request, stating fleet cars currently assigned have more than 200,000 miles and that the office recently received one newer vehicle. - Increased line items for expert witness and outside laboratory costs in the investigations budget, citing an FY2024 overrun as evidence those costs will continue.

Commissioner concerns and follow-ups: Several commissioners pressed for prioritization and asked whether existing investigators or shared resources could cover new-court duties rather than hiring immediately. Culpepper responded that investigators and courtroom staff are functionally tied to a single court during trial weeks and that investigators coordinate witnesses and logistics in ways that cannot be done remotely. Commissioners also asked the auditor's office to provide a consolidated spreadsheet of projected costs for the new court so the court can evaluate revenue/tax-rate options before finalizing the budget.

Restricted funds and prior practice: Culpepper said the veterans court is funded primarily by juror-donation fees and that the DA has used forfeiture funds sparingly and according to statute (for law-enforcement training, victim services and partner non-profit support). "By statute it is ... exactly what you can use the forfeiture fund for," she said, describing a court process to adjudicate whether seized funds are tied to criminal activity and noting law enforcement typically retains 80% and the DA's office 20% when courts allow forfeiture distributions.

What the court did not decide: This session was a preliminary budget workshop; no formal votes on staffing or capital-outlay items were taken. Commissioners asked staff to produce cost summaries and consider timing options tied to the state's final action on the omnibus bill funding the new judgeship.

Ending note: Culpepper repeated that the new-court positions are tied to making ongoing courtroom operations sustainable and to shortening time-to-trial, but that some requests (for example an additional VACC) are lower priority than the five court-assigned positions. She thanked the commissioners for meeting individually and for the opportunity to present in open court.