Title
Operating Budget Challenges - Criminal Division’s Vital Needs
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
Not referred to a committee.
City Manager Recommendation:
Receive the information. Briefing and Discussion.
Report
Issue:
Whether to discuss the Criminal Division’s vital operating needs.
Staff Contact:
Mark Barber, City Attorney, 360.753.8338
Rocio Ferguson, Chief Prosecutor, 360.763.8449
Presenter(s):
Mark Barber, City Attorney, 360.753.8338
Background and Analysis:
The Criminal Division consists of two prosecutors (Chief Prosecutor, Rocio Ferguson, and Assistant Prosecutor II, Tye Graham), a paralegal, a coordinator for domestic violence victims, and intern support staff. The prosecutors must cover numerous court calendars throughout the prosecution of criminal defendants. Each prosecutor has earned vacation and sick leave, which results in only one prosecutor available to handle the Criminal Division’s case load. Recent developments within the last two years have challenged the division’s ability to meet its duties. These challenges are:
1. Felony Level Cases Referred to Municipal Court. There has been a significant increase in felony level cases being sent to Olympia Municipal Court. Felony cases are usually filed and prosecuted by the Office of the Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney. The City was notified by the Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office that prosecution of certain lower level felony crimes will be declined and that the Criminal Division will have to charge and pursue such crimes as misdemeanors in Olympia Municipal Court. The Criminal Division expects the number of declines by the county prosecutor to increase. As these crimes are more serious, the Criminal Division is negatively impacted as such crimes are entitled to vigorous prosecution which takes more time and process to achieve justice for crime victims. It is expected these numbers will continue to increase.
2. Community Court. In 2016, the Criminal Division helped launch the Olympia Community Court. A purpose of the court is to divert minor offenders from prosecution in Olympia Municipal Court. The Court received a $200,000 grant in July 2016. The grant funds are used to pay for service providers, court programs, and some remodeling, but not for prosecution services. Although the success of the Community Court program requires additional prosecutor’s time in court, together with numerous pre-court meetings, and collaboration with service providers, the Criminal Division does not have additional prosecutor staff for these needs.
As Community Court continues to grow, the demands on the Criminal Division will continue to increase. In 2016, Community Court cases added approximately 938 additional court hearings. For 2017, there will be an estimated 1,152 hearings added for Community Court. Community Court does not divert or reduce the caseload of the Criminal Division. It is an additional calendar the prosecutors must cover and the cases are more time consuming to successfully divert minor offenders from the criminal justice system.
3. Modified Jail Booking System. There is a substantial increase in the Criminal Division staff’s workload based upon the recently modified jail booking system that has eliminated use of citations for arrested defendants. Historically, Olympia Police officers issued citations, which were used as the formal charging document by the jail to hold and book an inmate in custody. This same citation was equally used by the Criminal Division and Court as the actual charging document. The Criminal Division staff receives a daily list of inmates arrested within the past 24 hours and the staff must obtain all police reports related to each arrest. A prosecutor then must review the police and investigative reports to determine what, if any, criminal charges to file. The staff must prepare substantive formal charging documents related to each filed criminal charge for each inmate/defendant. Criminal Division staff must then submit these formal charging documents to the Olympia Municipal Court and jail before the afternoon in-custody calendar. This change in system has caused a significant increase to the workload of both the staff and prosecutors.
4. Victim Assistance. The Criminal Division makes it a priority through its Victim Assistance Coordinator (VAC) to remain in regular contact, through all stages of prosecution, with all victims of domestic violence. However, limited staffing makes it difficult to consult with all crime victims in non-domestic violence cases. These important, non-domestic violence cases include: driving under the Influence where the driver collides with another person; stalking where the offender continuously preys upon the victim; harassment where the offender threatens to harm the victim; assault where the offender causes physical injury or harm to the victim; property damage where the offender destroys the victim’s property; theft where the offender steals the victim’s property; and vehicle prowl where the offender scavenges through the victim’s vehicle and belongings. Unfortunately, victims in these cases do not always receive direct information that a case has been filed; these victims are not always kept apprised of the progress of the case through the system; and these victims are not always aware of their right to receive compensation for financial loss suffered.
5. Police Training. In addition to appearing in Olympia Municipal Court and Olympia Community Court, the prosecutors provide case specific legal advice to Olympia police officers in the field. The prosecutors also provide formal department legal trainings. OPD has seen retirements and has hired new law enforcement officers. There is growing demand for legal training for the Olympia Police Department. The combination of these increased demands on the Criminal Division creates a strain on current personnel resources.
6. Prosecution Case Management Software. The Criminal Division has a seriously outdated, paper-oriented, manual data-entry system, which depends on multiple systems, as well as outside agencies, to retrieve data. The data must then be manually entered into Word and Excel files to manage it. The Criminal Division has no document management system and no case load management system. As a result, there is no automatic case flow management or document generation process, leaving it up to staff, prosecutors, and the Victim Assistance Coordinator to individually send and track discovery requests and documents, manually create letters and pleadings, and keep handwritten notes and spend significant time individually managing each paper file throughout the process. This situation creates unnecessary duplication of work and is time consuming, inefficient, and leaves too much room for human error. A modern case management software system is an imperative for any contemporary prosecutor’s office to track and manage its caseload.
Because the Criminal Division does not have a case management system, it is not possible to produce accurate reports and analyze data. The ability to extract information and observe trends in types, locations, offenders, and resolution of crimes referred is essential to our objective of proactive response to the needs of Olympia and the citizens we serve. Performance analytics is essential for a prosecutor’s office to effectively monitor the pace of litigation and ensure the most fair and consistent charging and resolution of cases.
Neighborhood/Community Interests (if known):
N/A
Options:
1. Hire an entry level FTE prosecutor. This would provide a stable, ongoing solution for handling the increasing caseload more effectively and efficiently. This option would provide for prosecutor participation in police officer training sessions and in community outreach meetings. The estimated cost of such an entry level FTE prosecutor is approximately $115,000 (salary and benefits) for the first year.
2. Add $50,000 to the Legal Department’s budget for outside prosecution services to permit the Criminal Division to sustain its caseload when a prosecutor is sick or on earned leave, or to permit training for Olympia police officers. This alternative would not provide the Criminal Division with a stable, ongoing solution to handle its workload. It would assist, however, by providing the Chief Prosecutor the ability to enlist the services of contracted outside legal counsel to cover trials or provide coverage should a prosecutor become ill, have an emergency or take earned vacation.
3. Case Management and Workflow Automation Software. A case management and workflow automation software solution is vital for the Criminal Division no matter what is decided about staffing. It has been noted by the City’s IT Department that the Criminal Division is 20+ years behind where the office should be in regard to automation and its software needs. This has become evident during assessments of other municipal courts in Washington State.
Financial Impact:
Option 1 Approximately $115,000
Option 2 $50,000
Option 3 See attached cost proposal from Journal Technologies for eProsecutor software
Attachments:
Cost Proposal from Journal Technologies