District attorney highlights rising workload, vacancies and technology investments in budget pitch

The Benton County district attorneys office presented its proposed 25-27 budget to the county Budget Committee, describing a $12.3 million current-service-level request driven primarily by personnel costs and new technology costs. County budget staff said the DAs current-service-level amount is roughly 29% above the 23-25 adopted budget; after proposed adjustments the projected increase falls to about 17.1%.

Why it matters: The DAs office performs statutorily required duties that include criminal prosecution, juvenile work, death investigations and staffing multi-disciplinary teams. Personnel shortages in prosecutors and support staff can reduce the offices capacity to handle cases and to provide victim services.

Key points from the presentation - Personnel and vacancy issues: Budget staff and DA leadership said roughly 76% of the DAs budget is personnel costs. The office has historically high vacancy rates among deputy district attorneys and paralegals. The proposed budget adjustments include a reduction of 1 FTE and an increase in a vacancy factor (County noted a move from 19.90% to 14%, reflecting management adjustments during the budget process). DA Jocelyn (district attorney) and DA leadership stressed recruiting difficulty, competition with private practice and statewide turnover as ongoing problems. - Technology and discovery: The office has implemented a digital evidence/discovery platform (AXON Justice/acts on justice) to process digital media and reduce reliance on physical media such as DVDs and thumb drives. Staff said last year their media-processing count was around 3,300 items; the digital platform is an investment expected to create workflow efficiencies but required a sizable upfront investment in the current biennium. - Investigator position and continuity: The DA said a long-serving part-time investigator (John Shilko) provides significant on-call investigative work on serious crimes and planned retirements raise the question of whether to convert the role from a contract specialist to a full-time FTE plus a county vehicle. The DA said the office is balancing the benefit of a permanent investigator against near-term budget constraints. - Public-safety examples: The DA described ongoing homicide litigation and emphasized that prosecutor capacity can have downstream public-safety impacts. The DA used a prosecutorial analogy: "for the want of a nail, a shoe was lost..." to underline the argument that under-resourcing prosecution can have cascading consequences in severe cases.

Victim and community services DA staff reported roughly 50,953 victim-services contacts during the prior year covering about 2,700 victims; the office also runs the victim impact panel and supports the Willamette Criminal Justice Council (WCJC). Some revenue for victim services and specialized programs are trust or pass-through funds; these are relatively small shares of the overall budget.

Committee questions and staff responses Committee members asked about the WCJC trust fund and which jurisdictions contribute; the DA and budget staff explained that the WCJC is a multi-jurisdictional funding pool that pays for a staff position in the DAs office. Committee members also asked about the stipend and pay for the DA (a state official whose local stipend is set by local process); staff said the stipend is considered in personnel services and will be reviewed by the Citizens Budget Committee for elected-official pay decisions.

Ending: The DA emphasized a mix of recruitment challenges, statutory workload growth and new digital-processing costs as the core drivers of the proposed budget. The office said it will continue to operate at current service levels while seeking to hire into vacant positions, with an emphasis on long-term stability, victim services and trial capacity.