Prosecutors request $5.08M for case-management/data hosting and $7.4M for DUI prosecutors if caseloads transfer

Duffy Stone, solicitor for the 14th circuit and chair of the prosecution commission, told the committee that digital evidence and modern case-management demands have created recurring infrastructure costs. "I'm holding 43 terabytes of information in my office alone," he said, underlining the scale of storage required. Stone presented a proposal totaling $5,080,000 to ensure each circuit receives at least $200,000 for maintenance and data hosting while larger circuits receive proportionally more.

Stone said the request reflects a statewide formula intended to be fair to small and large circuits and to ensure every circuit has a base capacity to host and transmit discovery to defense counsel. He emphasized the need for integration across existing case-management vendors and said the infrastructure would reduce redundant downloading if systems are maintained centrally.

On a separate but related matter, Stone described the prosecutor workload implications of a pending DUI bill. He said judicial intake figures show about 12,500 new DUI-related cases statewide (about 900 in his circuit) and that the commission’s analysis recommends funding to hire roughly 59–65 prosecutors statewide (a $7,400,000 request) to cover incoming and pending DUI cases if the bill transfers jurisdiction or responsibilities to sovereign solicitors’ offices.

Stone and other presenters discussed operational options—magistrate consolidation and rotation/triage models—to manage both new intakes and pending dockets. Legislators asked for more detail on distribution formulas and implementation logistics; no appropriation votes were taken at the hearing.