New 7th Judicial District Attorney Anna Cooley outlines staffing, training and addiction-focused priorities

Anna Cooley, the newly elected 7th Judicial District Attorney, met with the San Miguel County Board of County Commissioners on Jan. 22 and described an office in need of staffing and organizational updates.

Cooley, who said she is six days into the job, told the commissioners the district should have 16 prosecutors but currently has seven: “We need 16 attorneys. We have 7.” She said existing caseloads are “three times what’s recommended by the Colorado District Attorney’s Council,” and that salary and housing costs make recruiting difficult. Cooley said the incoming deputy district attorney salary is about $80,000 and added that many candidates face law school loans and high local housing costs.

Cooley described the office as being in a “problem identification” stage rather than a solution phase. She said one near-term staffing need is evidence technicians: the office currently has three and needs a fourth to avoid discovery violations. “We have 3 technicians at this time. We certainly need 1 more,” she said.

On criminal trends, Cooley told the commissioners the district is seeing a rise in drug, domestic violence and homicide cases; she said Delta currently has multiple murder cases pending. She described a twofold philosophy for prosecutions: impose consequences for criminal behavior while expanding resources to help people leave the revolving cycle of addiction and mental-health-related offending.

Cooley said she plans to ask county governments across the 7th Judicial District for more funding but promised accountability for any new money: she listed missing job descriptions, a lack of updated employee handbooks and absence of regular performance reviews as internal gaps she plans to address. She also identified a training-budget shortfall and mentioned an $18,000 training gap in the existing budget.

When asked how she will ask counties to share costs, Cooley said she will prepare math on staffing and compensation needs and hopes to provide finalized numbers within three to six months. She said the office currently presents a single districtwide budget to each county and that not every county is able to accommodate the full ask.

Cooley asked for time to make changes: “I am asking the counties in our district to give me at least a year to get things under control,” she told the board.

Public commenter Doug Tooley raised objections about single-commissioner meetings and said he is currently before the prosecutor in a local case (23m109); Cooley did not take public questions about that pending case during the meet-and-greet.

The commissioners and Cooley discussed housing pressures in resort communities and how local cost of living affects recruiting for public-sector legal positions. Commissioners offered to meet again once Cooley has cost estimates for staffing and training needs.

Cooley said she will prioritize building relationships across the district and emphasized both accountability and outreach as part of her first-year goals.