ER - DA’s Office Trying To Cut 20 Percent

DA’s Office Trying To Cut 20 Percentby Christine Bensen The Eureka Reporter
3/31/04

Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos said if the District Attorney’s Office is forced to make cuts, it may have to ask city attorneys to prosecute misdemeanors that take place in their city.

Gallegos said it is not uncommon for city attorneys to do this.

He said his department may also stop prosecuting low-level offenses. He said this could mean a variety of things but, because he does not know how severe the budget cuts will be, he does not want to speculate.

Gallegos said 99 percent of his department’s budget consists of salaries and staff-related costs.

He said layoffs are probably inevitable if his department’s budget is cut this fiscal year.

The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors has asked all county departments to identify how they can cut 20 percent from their annual budgets.

“We’ve identified various ways,” he said.

Gallegos said he is not ready to say how yet, but said if his department is forced to make these cuts, it will not be able to prosecute as many cases.

“(We handled) almost 7,000 (cases) last year,” Gallegos said.

In a presentation to the board March 23, Assistant County Administrative Officer Karen Suiker said that after each department has identified how it can cut 20 percent, the board may exempt where more cuts are not possible.

Gallegos said his office is “very important” and though he hopes it will be exempt, he is planning for possible cuts.

“There is a financial crisis going on and we need to be team players to the best of our ability,” he said.

The District Attorney’s Office employs 13 attorneys, including Assistant District Attorney Tim Stoen and Gallegos.

Of the 13 attorneys, four-and-a-half are on vertical assignments, which means they do all the prosecution for one type of crime. For example, Deputy District Attorney Worth Dikeman is the vertical prosecutor for marijuana-related offenses.

“That’s their first priority,” Gallegos said.

He said they also pick up other cases, because there are so many.

“Our misdemeanor deputies are probably handling in the neighborhood of 1,500 cases a year,” he said.

Gallegos said in addition to already having limited staff, Deputy District Attorney Nandor Vadas, who handles domestic violence cases, will be leaving soon to become a federal magistrate. He said Deputy District Attorney Stacey Eads will be going on maternity leave.

Gallegos said Eads covers juvenile assignments, something he will take over while she is gone. Vadas’ position will not be filled, he said.

In addition to prosecuting specific cases, a prosecutor must be present to cover arraignments and preliminary hearings.

Included in the District Attorney’s Office are eight investigators. He said one is currently out on a workers’ compensation claim.

Gallegos said between 400 and 500 cases “flow through” his office each day. He said not only is the office handling current cases, it is handling cases from previous years as well.