Committee reviews criminal-justice budgets; courts, sheriff, state's attorney and corrections flag reconciliation items and staffing pressures

The Montgomery County Council’s budget committee heard separate briefings from the circuit court, sheriff’s office, the state’s attorney and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation about FY27 operating needs, reconciliation-list requests and the operational consequences of tight staffing.

Circuit Court leadership described a growing pay-equity gap affecting 29 employees on the county payroll who are partially supported by state grants; county staff said the executive’s recommended increase would be about $392,000 for programmatic and staffing items and an additional $718,000 for compensation adjustments, and that the council president’s approach places new tax-supported funding on the reconciliation list. Judge Carla Smith and court staff argued the county’s supplemental support is essential to preserve problem-solving courts and self-help services for low-income residents.

The sheriff’s office reported a modest recommended increase ($51,660, roughly 0.16%) but asked the committee to consider a $178,043 rebalancing (1.31 FTE) that shifts workloads previously grant-funded into the general fund to support judicial security. County staff also highlighted a $250,000 recommended increase for overtime after multiyear actual overtime expenditures outpaced budgets, reflecting increased court activity and pandemic-era staffing impacts. The sheriff said recruiting is improving with recent academy graduates and active classes underway.

State’s Attorney John McCarthy told the committee his office needs $314,000 to replace four grant-funded evidence-review positions now at risk after uncertainty in federal funding; he also requested $225,000 for prosecutor access licenses to Axon/Justice Premier tools to improve discovery review, redaction and transcription workflows and thereby reduce trial delays. McCarthy warned of an upcoming statutory shift that will move original jurisdiction for several violent offenses involving older teenagers to juvenile court, shortening prosecution preparation deadlines from 180 to 30 days and potentially creating an unfunded mandate.

Corrections Director Ben Stevenson outlined a roughly $4 million (4.2%) proposed increase for corrections, including a $183,000 dedicated K-9 contraband detection unit to support randomized inspections across facilities, contractual CPI cost increases the staff believes are known commitments, $47,000 to sustain education instructors (MCPS and Montgomery College services), replacement of obsolete tasers ($18,000) and the proposed abolition of seven vacant pretrial/prerelease positions for about $1.1 million in savings. Staff said some reductions are operationally justified because the prerelease center’s average daily population remains below pre-pandemic levels (roughly 60 today versus ~80 before COVID). Committee members expressed concern about recurring overtime overruns and asked for follow-up on legally required IEP-related education costs that might be exempt from reconciliation removal.

Throughout the hearing, committee members asked staff to mark items in the packet with an asterisk when the expenditure is for already-filled positions or reflects an ongoing commitment — a transparency measure intended for the full-council reconciliation review. Several items were identified for placement on the reconciliation list; committee votes at the end of panel discussions resulted in committee support (3-0) to advance the packets as summarized and to annotate asterisked items for clarity.