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County prosecutor urges council to approve experienced hire, citing heavy caseload
Summary
County prosecutor Diana Merce asked the council to approve filling a prosecutor vacancy with an experienced attorney, saying the office has about 9,000 pending cases and needs seasoned trial attorneys; council approved the personnel request.
County prosecutor Diana Merce told the Vanderburgh County Council on Jan. 7 that her office needs experienced attorneys to handle a heavy caseload and requested approval to fill a vacancy with a prosecutor with roughly 12 years of prosecutorial experience.
"We have 9,000 cases pending," Merce said, stressing the office’s volume of work and the need to avoid placing inexperienced attorneys alone in serious trials. She said the candidate being hired would be placed at step 3 pay ($94,000) though she believed the attorney qualified for step 4; hiring the candidate into the existing line item would save the county about $20,000 compared with the longtime deputy’s prior salary.
Merce described recent staffing pressures — including numerous major trials last year — and said retirements will heighten the need for experienced prosecutors over the next five years. Council members asked timing and classification questions; Merce said the office wanted the step-3 placement effective immediately because of the candidate’s experience. The council approved the prosecutor personnel request by voice vote.
The council separately approved a part-time public defender position (annual salary listed at $55,000) and other justice-related hires during the personnel portion of the agenda.
