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DA warns discovery fee change will slash discovery revenue from $109,000 to about $5,000
Summary
The District Attorney told the committee a change in the public defender administrative code lowered allowable discovery fees per case from $500 to $10, cutting estimated discovery revenue from $109,000 in 2025 to roughly $5,000 in the 2027 draft budget.
The District Attorney explained that a state administrative-code change governing discovery reimbursements reduced the county’s ability to charge for digital discovery materials. "It was 109,000 in 2025," the District Attorney said, and later described the administrative-code change that limits reimbursement to "$10 per case," down from a prior $500-per-case cap that the office previously used to recoup substantial costs for preparing and delivering large amounts of body-camera and other digital evidence.
Committee members asked follow-up questions about the revenue drop and the DA confirmed the 2027 estimate of approximately $5,000 in discovery revenue reflects the new $10-per-case limit. The DA said the county and other district attorneys remain frustrated by the change but noted it will require legislative or administrative revision to restore prior reimbursement levels.
