District attorney seeks upgraded civil-service grade for discovery facilitator position

District Attorney Jason Schmidt told the Public Safety Committee the district attorney's office is asking the legislature to set a new salary and civil-service grade for a discovery facilitator position that has evolved from an earlier discovery expediter role, and the committee approved the action by voice vote.

Schmidt said changes in newly enacted discovery laws after the pandemic sharply increased the county's volume of electronically stored evidence and required specialized handling. He said Benjamin Lucas, previously employed by the sheriff's office and now working for the district attorney's office, has taken on responsibilities beyond the existing discovery expediter job description and that Human Resources recommended classifying the role as a grade 18 under the applicable union contract.

"Electronic material or digitally stored material is accessed, stored, and reviewed in different manners depending upon the software platforms that are utilized by the local agencies," Schmidt said, describing platforms such as Axon and Motorola and why Lucas's cross-agency familiarity is now a county resource. Schmidt told the committee the office will eliminate the earlier discovery expediter position in the office budget and place the work in the facilitator role rather than create a new, separate position.

Schmidt said the change draws on existing budgeted salary lines and that the office expects to remain within the approved local-share allocation for the fiscal year because several positions are currently vacant. The committee approved the grade change and salary-setting motion by voice vote; the transcript records the motion as carried without a named roll-call tally.