County attorney outlines fine-collection mechanics, security concerns and a proposal for discovery support

County Attorney Brian Williams told the board that delinquent court debt (fine collection) produces revenue when collected — the county receives roughly 28% and the county attorney's office receives 5% after specified thresholds are met — and that collections have been steady though the authority remains fragile. He described victim restitution procedures and said collection mechanics do not change prosecution decisions.

Williams also raised concerns about courtroom safety following past incidents and asked the board to consider securing an armed deputy position; he proposed removing the county attorney's office responsibility for a $115,000 security line and suggested negotiation on using fine-collection funds to offset security costs. To address workload created by frequent discovery requests and video sharing, he recommended hiring a part-time (≈15 hours/week) discovery compliance coordinator (estimated cost ~$26,000/year) to free attorney time for prosecutions. "It would be a big part of this compliance because currently it's the attorneys that do it, not the support staff," he said.