City Attorney seeks permanent funding for victim-witness staff and ongoing support for Ethos diversion work

City Attorney Lindsay Olsen presented the City Attorney’s Office budget at a council work session, asking the council to stabilize victim services staffing and create a recurring budget line for Ethos, a restorative-justice diversion program.

Olsen said the office currently relies on a mix of funding sources — general fund positions, an expiring VOCA federal grant, and ARP-funded positions — and warned that grant timing and partial coverage put victim-witness support at risk. She asked the council to convert one grant-funded victim-witness staff position to a general-fund FTE this budget year to preserve continuity, and to consider a follow-up request next year to fully transition the second position when ARP funds are addressed.

Olsen described Ethos and related programs including Genesys, a gun-diversion program run in partnership with Urban Ventures and local service providers that uses restorative circles and wraparound services. Olsen said Ethos has no ongoing operating line in the city budget and has been supported by DOJ grants and one-time council funding; her request is for $70,000 ongoing plus $30,000 one-time to bring more program work in-house and reduce contract costs.

Olsen highlighted program outcomes and resource trade-offs: Ethos’s recidivism rate was presented as about 9 percent in contrast with roughly 30–32 percent for traditional prosecution, and Genesis (the gun-diversion offshoot) has approved 31 cases with 13 completions to date. She explained the office’s Community Justice Unit screens cases for nontraditional prosecution and that collaborative work with the police and community partners is central to the diversion effort.

Council members sought details on grant-year timing, the percent of salary covered by the VOCA grant and what happens to grant-funded dollars if a position is moved to the city payroll. Deputy City Attorney Jessica McConaughey explained federal grant-year schedules (October 1–September 30) and confirmed the VOCA award does not fully fund the two victim-witness FTEs for a full calendar year. Olsen and staff said they will provide a detailed breakout of grant versus city funding in follow-up materials and emphasized the risk of losing positions if the conversion does not occur.

Olsen also flagged civil-division workload pressures — litigation, encampment work, rent-stabilization and cannabis legislation — and promoted a Justice Initiative to remove racial covenants from deeds; she said 260 properties have been submitted and about 160 processed so far on that program.

The council did not take a vote at the session; the requests were presented for council consideration as part of the budget cycle.