Coweta County DA Herb Cranford asks commissioners to fund prosecutor who cut backlog

District Attorney Herb Cranford asked the Coweta County Board of Commissioners at the April 14 work session to fund an ARPA-funded prosecutor position permanently, saying the position has produced measurable progress clearing a multi-year caseload backlog.

Cranford, who identified himself as the district attorney for the Coweta Circuit, said the assistant district attorney assigned to rapidly review older and inmate cases has substantially increased the number of cases docketed and dismissed weak cases after review. "It is an increase of $175,365.19," Cranford said when asked for the specific county cost to retain the position; he added that the attorney’s salary with employer costs is about $134,000. “That’s my understanding of what it costs to employ her.”

Why it matters: Cranford told commissioners his office received roughly 9,600 cases from 2021 through 2025 and closed about 6,500, leaving an estimated backlog of about 3,000 cases. He said the ARPA-funded assistant doubled docketing in 2025 — from roughly 600 indictments a year to about 1,379 docketed cases — and dismissed 155 cases prior to indictment that lacked sufficient evidence. "This is working on both sides of the ledger," Cranford said, arguing that both victims and defendants benefit from quicker resolution.

Support and scrutiny: Commissioners asked for more granular cost-benefit data, including the average days inmates served and the fiscal impact on jail costs. One commissioner said the county should see the savings related to reduced incarceration costs; Cranford said he can provide calendar-level data showing days saved and case closures and suggested a target of resolving probation-violation cases within 120 days of arrest to reduce long jail stays.

Broader context: Cranford also flagged retention and pay-scale concerns, urging the county to examine its local pay scales for assistant prosecutors compared with recently revised state scales. He said turnover creates additional workload when replacements must review old cases, and he argued that sustaining the ARPA position in county funding would preserve recent productivity gains and could help the county secure state-funded judges and staff sooner by increasing indicted-case counts used by the Administrative Office of Courts.

What’s next: Cranford asked the board to include the $175,365.19 request in FY2027 budget planning. Commissioners did not vote on the request during the work session; staff and the DA agreed to provide more precise cost-savings and case-duration data for the board to consider in the coming budget discussions.

Quote: "I've got somebody great doing this job. There's the proof in the pudding already there from what she's done in just seven months in 2025," Cranford said.

Ending: The board heard the request as part of the FY2027 budget work session and asked staff to provide detailed data on jail-day reductions and fiscal impacts before any final budget decision.