District attorney urges restoration of three budget lines after county reduces personnel funding
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Summary
District Attorney Christina Pearson told legislators the executive’s budget reduced or removed funding for two full-time assistant district attorneys and a law school intern line she considers necessary to cover town and specialized courts; legislators said they’re looking at vacancies across departments when trimming personnel costs.
District Attorney Christina Pearson told Montgomery County legislators at a budget workshop that the executive’s proposed budget trims about $243,000 from her requested personnel funds, removing two full-time assistant district-attorney lines and a law-school intern line she said are needed to cover local courts.
Pearson said the lines removed were listed under appropriations as line 133 (+1 assistant district attorney), line 1305 (another full-time ADA), and a law-school intern line at 1130. “Those 3 lines … is about $243,000,” she said, and added she needs the budget authority to hire promptly when a qualified candidate appears because town courts and several special dockets require coverage.
Pearson told legislators she has been able to recruit for some roles: she said she has filled a deputy chief assistant position that starts Dec. 8 and has an applicant who will join after bar admission. However, she said the removed lines create friction because the office may need to return quickly to the legislature for a resolution once a candidate is identified.
Legislators said the county’s approach to vacant positions is to identify potential savings by removing budgeted but unfilled posts and then require departments to request funding again when they have a hire. Legislator Kelly highlighted the county’s recent use of fund balance to close budget gaps and said personnel vacancies are a common place to seek savings: “The easiest place we find it is personnel,” Kelly said.
Pearson told the committee she expects unrealized salary savings from 2025 will cover the 2026 request if those funds are restored, and she asked that the legislature leave the requested lines in place to avoid repeated mid-year requests for resolutions. Chair Papp and other legislators said they understood the operational need but emphasized the legislature must weigh fund-balance use and a larger county-wide inventory of vacant positions when recommending restorations.
Ending: The legislature did not make an immediate decision at the workshop. Legislators and the DA agreed to continue discussions and for the DA’s office to provide more detailed year-to-date personnel and vacancy data to support any request to restore the lines.