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County attorney urges three‑year charging‑attorney to tackle a backlog of 600+ cases
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Summary
Coconino County Attorney outlined a growing felony case backlog and asked the Board to fund a charging attorney for three years to accelerate case review and reduce months‑long delays for prosecutions and downstream justice partners.
Coconino County Attorney (role) told the Board of Supervisors the office faces a backlog of cases that is degrading timeliness in the criminal justice system and requested a three‑year charging‑attorney position to reduce the review queue.
The county attorney said calendar‑year 2025 produced a sharp rise in incoming cases and that by year end the office had “above 600 cases for review,” creating months‑long waits to prioritize and process matters (County Attorney). He described charging attorneys as the front line who analyze police reports to determine whether cases meet the ethical standard of a reasonable likelihood of conviction; his office now processes roughly 150 to 200 felony files monthly and estimates about one‑third of those processed matters are not charged after review.
“About a third of that amount is not even charged,” he said, adding that backlog slows case resolution, leaves people awaiting outcomes in the community and can cascade onto courts, public defenders and probation. He asked the Board to approve a charging attorney on a three‑year limited appointment (the manager recommended it for three years) and said the office would coordinate with defenders and courts to avoid shocking downstream capacity when additional cases are worked up.
The county attorney also reviewed other requests and program activity: the office’s cold‑case work, a conviction‑integrity unit that has a citizen review committee, an anti‑human‑trafficking pass‑through grant, marijuana‑expungement work following Proposition 207, and concern about federal/state grant instability for prosecutor positions. He raised the idea of studying a special public‑safety taxing district (sales tax placed before voters) to provide ongoing countywide support for the full justice system, including courts, prosecution, public defense and probation.
Why it matters: The county attorney characterized the request as a targeted, ethically necessary staffing increase to reduce a backlog that creates both public‑safety and fairness problems when case review is delayed. Management recommended the charging attorney on a three‑year basis; the Board will decide whether to fund the position as part of FY27 budget deliberations.
Provenance: Topics and figures drawn from the county attorney’s presentation and slides to the Board (case backlog numbers and the charging‑attorney proposal).
