County Attorney’s Office stretches to handle growing caseload

Pinal County’s 90-percent population growth over the past decade has ramped up the workload for the Pinal County Attorney’s Office, but the office’s budget has not always kept pace, especially in the economic climate of the past three years. As a result, County Attorney James P. Walsh and his staff have had to do more with less.

In fiscal 2008-09, the office reviewed 2,856 felony cases and indicted 1,441 suspected criminals. Those numbers increased significantly in 2009-10, when the office reviewed 3,940 felony cases and indicted 1,594; an additional 737 cases went to the new Early Disposition Court for resolution without indictment (see “Year-old court settles cases quickly”).

During the same period, the office’s general fund budget fell from $6.5 million to $6.2 million. Additional funding from grants and special revenues decreased from $3.7 million in 2008-09
to $3.5 million in 2009-10.

Over the past three fiscal years, from 2007-08 to 2009-10, the office’s overall budget fell from $11.9 million to $9.7 million, an 18.5 percent decrease. During that same time period the number of prosecutors on the staff remained constant at 29.

Despite the year-over-year increase in cases and the budgetary reductions, Walsh said in an interview in his Florence office that his team is coping.

“I think that the office is running very well on the amount of resources that have been provided to us,” said Walsh, who has been county attorney since 2007. “We’re addressing the problems that are coming to us. There has been an increase in the amount of crime being committed in this county, but I wouldn’t say that it is disproportionate to the population.

“In other words, I don’t think we’ve had bad people moving into the county. We’ve just had good old-fashioned folks, and some of them have disputes and some of them kind of get lost and go out and do things they shouldn’t be doing.”

A lot of new people
U.S. Census figures indicate that Pinal County’s population increased from 179,727 in 2000 to an estimated 340,962 in 2009.

From Jan. 1, 2000 to Nov. 1, 2010, the Pinal County Attorney’s Office received a total of 43,233 general felony cases and indicted a total of 19,672 people. During that timeframe, the office received 4,311 cases that were considered major offenses (Class 1, 2 and 3 felonies) and indicted 3,738 of those. Also during that time, the office received 31,534 drug felonies and indicted 13,386.

Richard T. Platt, chief criminal deputy for the Pinal County Attorney’s Office, said that the staff of prosecutors has grown from 12 members when he joined the department in 1996 to its present level of 29.

More help needed but not more lawyers
In assessing current staffing level, Walsh said that while he does not plan to ask the County Board of Supervisors for more prosecutors in the near future, he believes that the Attorney’s Office has an immediate need for additional paralegals and/or legal secretaries.

“I think we’re doing pretty well on the [number of] lawyers that we have in the office for the various tasks,” Walsh said. “But support personnel are an important resource that isn’t focused on enough. Those are resources that we really, really need. When we get to budget time for this coming year we may have to ask for something in that area. A paralegal is considerably less expensive than a prosecutor.”

Walsh recently was able to hire a second paralegal after operating for years with only one.

“They are a tremendous asset and resource to any law firm that does a lot of trial work,” Walsh said. “I think we’re moving in the right direction. Could we use three instead of two? You bet. But am I going to complain because we just went from one to two? No, I’m not going to complain about it, because I think that was a move in the right direction. But we may ask for another one next year.”

Walsh also was able to allocate money for the planned hiring of an additional legal secretary.

“With 55,000 notifications going out of this office from our victims services unit, they needed more help,” Walsh said. “We couldn’t get any more general funds, but I found another way to put together enough money to hire a secretary.”

Prosecuting criminals only part of the job
The 55,000 notifications sent to crime victims during the last fiscal year are just part of the non-prosecutorial services that the office regularly provides.

“By state law, victims are entitled to notice of almost all of the important stages of a criminal prosecution,” Walsh said. “Our office is the one that gives them those notices.”

The office also provides victim advocates, who are available to answer questions and accompany victims to court proceedings.

Additionally, the department provides legal advice and representation to the county government.

On the civil side, the office operates a Child Support Program, which collected $21 million for families last year. “It is a very significant part of what we do,” Walsh said. “It doesn’t require a lot of lawyers. There are about 35 people that work in that part of the office. We only have four lawyers, but the other 30-plus people are helping to find these folks and make sure that they make payments or get on a payment schedule.”

All of these services are in addition to the office’s responsibilities of prosecuting felonies that occur throughout the county, along with misdemeanors that take place in the county’s unincorporated areas.

That job of prosecuting criminals remains the office’s primary mission.

“What we want to do is make sure bad guys are not on the street,” Walsh said. “That’s our job. We’re trying to protect the community, just like police officers and sheriffs and deputies.

Sidebar: Year-old court settles cases quickly
The Early Disposition Court launched last year in Pinal County is a success, according to County Attorney James P. Walsh, clearing more than 700 cases before its first anniversary.

The court began addressing victimless crime in December 2009 and gradually added victim cases with the aim of resolving simple cases quickly, without repeated hearings and long delays. Usually only one hearing takes place. A judge, prosecutors, public defenders, probation officers and courtroom clerks all attend hearing, making an on-the-spot resolution possible. As of Oct. 1, the court is operating two days a week.

“EDC helps the whole criminal justice system provide for timely justice in cases that can be expedited,” Walsh said. “This court can minimize expenditures and allow us to redirect our resources as our population grows and demands on existing personnel become greater.”
EDC is a collaborative project of the Pinal County Superior Court, Pinal County Attorney’s Office, Pinal County Public Defender, Pinal County Sheriff’s Office, Adult Probation and Clerk of the Court.

“The EDC is still a project in progress,” Walsh said. “We are still refining the system to make it work for all involved, so that justice is provided while saving money for the taxpayers who foot the bill.”