State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez stressed that the proposed budget for her department does not reflect what is needed but the realities of what money is available. While the American Bar Association says that the average case load for prosecutors should be no more than 150 criminal or 450 misdemeanor cases, her assistant state’s attorneys average 217 criminal or 940 misdemeanor cases. Staffing shortages result in longer case times. There is a backlog in the appellate division, which has resulted in her asking assistant state’s attorneys to volunteer their free time to help write appellate briefs so that court deadlines are met. She said that she had just heard about a proposal to create a Gun Court, and if that does come into being, she may be coming back to the County Board for more money to staff it.
--Submitted by Priscilla Mims
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