News Release No. 2001-14
Tuesday, October 30, 2001
Prosecutor Says Proposed Budget Cuts Will Delay Justice and Impair Services
With budget cuts looming, Prosecutor Randall K. Gaylord spoke out about what a reduction in appropriations would mean for his office. "This will impair the legal services for the county on every front," he said.
"Typically, law firms staff up according to the needs of their clients. We are no different. We can reduce staff only if the Board of County Commissioners severely cuts back on programs that require legal services. The biggest demand for our services come from the criminal investigations from the sheriff’s office, civil work from the permit center, long range planning and the Commissioners. I don’t see big program cuts in those offices, certainly not in 2002," added Gaylord.
The prosecutor claims that reductions in the office will slow the ability of the office to respond to criminal cases and civil issues. "On criminal cases, justice delayed is justice denied. On civil cases, we will lose the ability to defend cases and solve problems, creating greater risk for the County, " said Gaylord
The San Juan County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has six major functions. It handles all misdemeanor and felony criminal cases in the County, it provides support and assistance to victims of crime, it is the legal advisor to all County officials, it defends all lawsuits and land use cases against the County, and it provides family support through state child support programs. It is also the County coroner.
Three of the nine employees of the office are funded by state and federal grants. These grants pay for family support, child support, and victim services. Other grants pay one-half of the prosecutor’s salary and some coroner expenses.
"When you get down to the work funded by the County Commissioners, the choices are very limited. Two lawyers work in the criminal arena and two lawyers do civil work. To lose a lawyer means we are going to have half the effort put into criminal prosecution or half the effort put in the civil side. Each choice is untenable," said Gaylord.
"If we lay off a criminal prosecutor, we might as well dismantle the district court, as we will only be able to handle a few gross misdemeanors. It will be difficult to cover drunk driving trials, most of the domestic violence, simple assault and theft," said Gaylord.
To lay off a lawyer on the civil side of the office is no easier. In the civil area, the deputy prosecutors defend lawsuits and advise County departments on their rights and duties, review and prepare contracts, forms and other legal documents. Drafting new code provisions and enforcing the existing provisions is a big part of the job. "We are the County’s law firm."
"I know ‘penny wise and pound foolish’ is a worn-out cliche, but it really applies to the prosecutor’s office. With our assistance, the County collects fines, penalties and forfeitures. We are involved in everything from traffic infractions to tax foreclosures and land use penalties. Strict compliance with these rules are essential to keep the budget balanced and retain a fair system of taxation and regulation," added Gaylord.
"We can’t simply do things on the cheap. There are professional standards for lawyers’ work. I refuse to compromise those standards. If we fail to comply with those standards, we can be called before the disciplinary board or subject the County to liability. I appreciate the fact that we need to find new ways to do things in the County, and I stand ready to be a key player in that discussion."
Despite the pending revenue problems, Gaylord is asking the Commissioners to keep the office intact. That means the Commissioners will have to renew the funding for the deputy prosecutor, Alan Marriner, who represents the County on Growth Board, planning and code enforcement matters. "We expect four new Growth Board appeals in 2002, some of which have up to thirty parties. The case record is so big and the list of parties so long, that we cannot take on the additional workload without retaining Mr. Marriner’s position and the legal assistant to help him," said Gaylord.
While neighboring counties of Island and Skagit used Seattle lawyers costing nearly a million dollars each, San Juan County has defended its new comprehensive plans and regulations with a part-time lawyer working in the prosecutor’s office. "We have developed the expertise to carry on this work. It would be a shame to lose that and start all over again."
Gaylord urged the Commissioners not to balance the budget at the expense of core services such as public safety. "Leadership means making choices and establishing priorities," said Gaylord. Everyone in the law and justice arena has worked hard to keep our expenses down. Compared to the state average for small counties of seventy percent (70%), San Juan County spends just forty percent (40%) of its budget on law and justice.
Gaylord also acknowledges the difficulty of getting to a solution to the revenue problem. Gaylord offered these general principles in reviewing the budget.
First, core services, including law and justice and finance offices, should be funded with stable sources of revenue such as the property tax. Banked property taxes should be pulled out of the bank.
If a road levy shift is required, this should be explained and limited. The lesson from I-695 is that elected officials should use tax revenue for the purpose it was assessed. Car taxes should have paid for road improvements, and property taxes should have been used for local government core services, not vice versa.
Second, employees should be paid what they are worth. This revenue problem is not caused by the employees, and so the solution should not be shouldered by the employees.
Third, about four percent could be saved by reducing changing the days of work. Gaylord proposed that the County designate 11 days off (four percent) and provide a four percent reduction in salary. These days should be uniform throughout the County. Gaylord recommended adding two additional holidays (Columbus day and Christmas Eve) and nine other Fridays spread out through the year. " This approach is preferable to layoffs because the County avoids paying out unemployment compensation. It means that all savings are true savings," said Gaylord "The Commissioners should immediately commence negotiations with the union regarding the changes to wages and hours," added Gaylord.
Lastly, any remaining shortfall should be made up by cutting optional programs. "I know many optional programs are popular with the public, and this is a difficult proposition."
Gaylord invited the public to comment on his budget proposals. "I would like to hear what people think about these ideas. Our office and the Commissioners need to hear from the public now."
Randall K. GaylordReturn to Prosecutor's Home Page