Clerk, treasurer, courts and prosecutor urge commissioners to limit cuts to staffing and core services

Eaton County's constitutional officers and the trial courts used a special budget meeting to spell out how recommended spending cuts would affect statutory duties and frontline services.

County Clerk and Register Diane Bosworth told commissioners her office had been operating with reduced staff for years and announced an immediate consolidation of the clerk and register offices to cross-train staff. She said the county's election workload has increased dramatically since Proposal 2 (2022) and warned that "our election department consists of only 1 person," arguing the county needs a dedicated election director. Bosworth proposed raising certified-copy fees from $15 to $20 for the first copy (additional copies $10) and increasing election programming charges from $125 to $200 per ballot style to bring in modest additional revenue.

Treasurer Darris Raynett described the treasurer's mandated duties, including tax settlement, foreclosure administration and delinquent-tax revolving fund management. Raynett said foreclosure services are funded from the foreclosure fund and that his office works with Capital Area Community Services and Housing Services of Mid Michigan to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. He told commissioners that losing staff could delay tax settlements and jeopardize payments to local units of government.

Judge Ted Cunningham and other trial-court leaders asked the board to recognize that some positions listed for cuts were not actually vacant and that several roles are statutory or court-mandated. Cunningham said the court system had submitted templates showing seven interdependent units (circuit, probate, district, friend of the court, probation, juvenile, community corrections), and he urged the board to adopt a budget that would leave some positions unfilled only where safe. He said courts had requested to leave 4.5 full-time equivalent positions vacant to yield roughly $347,012 in savings while still preserving needed staff; the judiciary also noted an approximately $320,000 reimbursement from a change in childcare fund reimbursement should reduce county share.

Prosecutor Doug Lloyd, Deputy Chief Adam Strong and Chief Assistant Chris Anderson described recruitment and retention difficulties. They said the office is "below the level of adequate staffing" and that attorney departures have led to a loss of institutional experience; Anderson said the office has lost 11 attorneys since 2021 and that "the work demands and lagging compensation has also led to a tremendous turnover." The prosecutor's office requested funding to maintain two vacant APA (assistant prosecuting attorney) positions and one legal assistant position at a minimum.

Sheriff Robert Wright described departmental reductions of roughly $2.0 million (about 21 positions) already identified by his office, including cuts to road deputies, sergeants and other positions. Wright said those cuts were deeper than the board's preliminary recommendation but intended to preserve a limited county road-patrol footprint; he warned that some townships would otherwise be left without patrol coverage and suggested the county consider a future public-safety millage to restore patrol capacity.

Community corrections and treatment courts were highlighted by a public commenter, Steve Segrist, who said such programs reduce recidivism, relieve jail and court burdens and save money. Judge Cunningham and court staff also emphasized that community corrections and treatment courts leverage grant dollars: "for FY24-25, our grants brought in $598,000 to Eaton County," Cunningham said, and the courts have sought grant support to cover the director's cost and reduce county contributions.

No final budget votes were taken during the session; commissioners will continue deliberations.