County attorney urges hiring another prosecutor as I‑35 enforcement and caseloads rise

The county attorney told commissioners that traffic volumes on I‑35 have increased substantially since 2018 and that the county should plan for growing caseloads stemming from both traffic citations and related criminal offenses. He said a 2018 count showed about 120,000 vehicles per day on I‑35 and that the count now likely exceeds 200,000 daily. "We're going to have an awful lot of cases since it was just Ed and I in the county attorney's office," he said, describing increased trooper presence and the likelihood of more contested hearings, appeals and complex weight-enforcement matters.

The attorney proposed hiring an additional assistant county attorney to ensure cases move at an appropriate pace and to maintain prosecution quality as trooper contacts and weight-ticket cases increase. He emphasized contested-case rates have risen — he estimated about 20% of citations are now contested — and that handling JP trials and appeals into county court multiplies workload. The court discussed revenue implications (some projections from JP courts showed revenues rising in recent years) but raised concerns about the county’s current budget capacity to add a new full-time attorney. The county attorney will work with staff to explore funding sources and timing; no staffing decision was made at the hearing.