Cochise County tries to find $600,000 to cover high court costs

BISBEE — The Cochise County Board of Supervisors and staff are facing another budgetary challenge in a year wrought with decreasing revenues and increasing costs.

That challenge is to come up with another $600,000 to cover indigent defense and jury duty costs.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Clerk of the Court Denise Lundin and Superior Court Judge Wallace Hoggatt received approval from the county Board of Supervisors for the transfer of $150,000 from the general fund’s contingency to pay for the cost of holding trials.

Jurors receive a $12 per day per diem, plus 44.5 cents per mile, Lundin said.

“For the last two years, costs have been relatively steady. We started out this year with the same steady pace. In September we noticed a sharp spike in trials and brought this information forward to our criminal justice task force. The projections from the judges show this was no aberration,” Lundin said.

As of Tuesday, 41 trials have been held since the fiscal year began, with 106 trial days during that time frame. Lundin said that number is more than double the normal workload.

In an attempt to rein in costs, she has reduced the number of jurors who are summoned to serve.

Hoggatt said the number of felony filings being seen is “unusual.”

“There has been a 25 percent increase in filings, but there is a 100 percent increase in jury trials … We don’t blame anybody for that,” Hoggatt said. “People have the right in criminal cases and in civil cases to a jury trial. The numbers are unusual compared to previous years. … Our calendars into the second half of this year are filled …”

The reason appears to be a combination of factors, including more serious crimes are being committed that require lengthy trials and cannot be resolved in plea agreements. “It doesn’t appear to me to be a significant change in county attorney policies. There has been one minor change in policy, but that really wouldn’t explain this. But I’m left without a good solid answer for you,” Hoggatt said.

County Administrator Mike Ortega told the supervisors at the budget review work session Tuesday that the impact of these expenses will have a tremendous effect on the budget. Paying jurors isn’t the only problem. There’s the costs of defense attorneys for those who cannot afford them. Ortega predicts that fund will be short around $450,000 by the end of the fiscal year. He suggested the county increase salaries of indigent defense attorneys on staff and even hire more since that would cost less than contracting out these services. “We are starting to see an impact on the jail. Our jail overtime costs are up and so are overhead costs. Some of that is due to the vacancies, but some is due to the sheer numbers who are there,” Ortega added. Ortega has planned a meeting with members of the Criminal Justice Task Force to find out what is going on in the system.

“Whether it’s law enforcement folks across the county and the sheriff’s office handing out more citations, or making more arrests, or prosecuting more people, some mechanism has changed,” he said. “I want to understand why this has changed so dramatically. Ultimately, I’m seeing a very significant impact in cutbacks and shortfalls that we did not account for in the budget process.”