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Supervisor calls for withdrawal of fully funded Commonwealth's Attorney position amid complaints about prosecutions
Summary
A supervisor criticized the Commonwealth's Attorney's office for case handling and urged withdrawing a fully funded position from the budget; other supervisors noted elections and urged due process, and the matter was framed as a budget-condition dispute rather than a personnel action at this meeting.
One supervisor used public comment time and later the board discussion to sharply criticize the Commonwealth's Attorney's handling of prosecutions, tying delays in taking cases to trial to county per‑diem costs for jail stays. The supervisor said the county spent more than $59,000 on per diem costs for a case that did not reach trial and argued the fully funded county position for a Commonwealth's Attorney should be removed from the budget unless performance improves.
Other board members pushed back on the tone and noted that elections are the appropriate mechanism for changing elected officeholders. One supervisor said he respects the office and the position even while acknowledging constituent complaints, and the board did not take formal personnel action; a supervisor clarified that refusal to support the budget as proposed would be the remedy if the fully funded position remained in the budget. The item functions as a budget‑condition signal rather than an immediate personnel decision at this meeting.
