Story County reviews county attorney budget as programs report lower recidivism and phone licensing costs rise

Story County supervisors spent most of a Jan. 30 budget work session reviewing the county attorney's budget and program performance, after County Attorney Jim Mills reported two recent hires and new data showing substantially lower recidivism among participants in the office's alternatives program.

Mills told the board his office filled a position that had been open since October and filled another juvenile/civil misdemeanor docket role three weeks earlier. He credited the alternatives program and the mental health court with improved outcomes and said the office is close to graduating the program's first participant. "People who complete our alternatives programming have a 12% recidivism rate compared to those who do not complete our program," Mills said, and thanked the board for funding the program with opioid settlement dollars.

Why it matters: supervisors must weigh personnel needs, program effectiveness and constrained revenues while finalizing the FY27 county budget. Staff noted several revenue and cost items that could alter the office's bottom line, including forfeiture balances, grant-funded positions and changes in fines recovery rules tied to population thresholds.

What was discussed: staff walked the board through revenue line items including a VAWA grant that subsidizes a prosecutor focused on domestic violence, a victim-witness assistance grant that covers one coordinator, an attorney-general internship grant and the special law-enforcement forfeiture fund. Auditor staff reported a recent sheriff payment of about $16,000–$18,000 that affects forfeiture balances, and projected the special fund will be about $109,000 at the end of FY27.

Mills and operations manager Elijah Hansen reviewed operating lines: postage ($5,000 requested), employee mileage ($5,000), subscriptions and legal research (Westlaw and Iowa code materials), and training. Mills proposed a 10% increase for travel and training because the fall county-attorney conference will be in Iowa City rather than Des Moines.

Licensing and phone costs: staff told the board an estimate from county IT (delivered after budgets were submitted) suggests phone-system licensing and related costs could be substantially higher than the budgeted amount. "They suggested that we budget for a 12% increase because that's what they're expecting," Hansen said of vendor guidance for certain legal-research products, but he also reported a later estimate indicating licensing might be "probably around 30% higher" than initially budgeted; supervisors discussed adding a $3,000–$3,500 contingency to the line until final figures arrive.

Diversion, opioid funds and treatment: the diversion program budget is recorded under department 99 (countywide). Mills said many diversion supports'cell phones, bus passes, and limited payments for treatment such as methadone'have been funded from opioid-settlement dollars. The board also budgets $5,000 to the Iowa Department of Management for a recidivism study to track program effectiveness; staff said they may ask for a reassessment if the department raises its fee or expands the scope to produce statewide comparisons.

Other budget notes: juvenile court costs were reestimated for the current year at $10,000 (down from a $20,000 allocation), with $15,000 proposed for the next fiscal year because filings have declined. Staff described a multi-year furniture replacement plan accelerated by a recent remodel and noted warranty-backed purchases from a Des Moines vendor.

What's next: staff said they will confirm final phone/licensing costs after receiving the IT/vendor email and reestimate budget lines if necessary. No formal motions or votes were taken during the county attorney's portion of the work session.

Attributions: Quotes and program figures are attributed to County Attorney Jim Mills and operations manager Elijah Hansen, who spoke during the Jan. 30 work session.