Friday, April 19, 2024
As misdemeanor cases continue to plummet, Adult Probation Director Shelli Berry on Friday laid off two employees months sooner than she expected and in the middle of a county attorney race in which fewer prosecutions are a central issue.
Those found guilty of having committed a Class A or Class B misdemeanor are often placed on probation with the county’s Community Supervision & Corrections Department, otherwise known as Adult Probation.
Adult probation is funded through probation fees.
With dramatically fewer misdemeanor prosecutions than in past years, there is less money coming in.
Berry told the HCN on Monday that she laid off an administrative staffer and a probation officer. She had told the HCN early last month that she would have to lay off employees if things didn’t improve but at that point she thought that layoffs might not occur until August.
“Unfortunately, our cases have continued to decline since the article was published,” Berry told the HCN on Monday in an email, referring to a Jan. 8 article. “The continued reduction in numbers has forced this department to make these layoffs a lot earlier than was originally anticipated.”
Why this is happening isn’t completely clear, but fewer prosecutions is the cornerstone of the battle between County Attorney Matt Mills and his challenger, Stuart Neal. Both are on the March 3 Republican primary ballot. Early voting starts Tuesday.
Neal has accused Mills of failing to prosecute hundreds of cases. Mills said that misdemeanor arrests are down locally as well as statewide, and he doesn’t control arrests.
It is true that arrests are down in Hood County as well as across the state. However, in Neal’s view, there are cases that Mills could and should prosecute but doesn’t.
Mills posted this response to the Jan. 8 article about looming layoffs on his campaign Facebook page:
“While it’s sad on a personal level if someone gets laid off, our office is not going to file bad cases or go against the interests of justice in order to generate more dollars for county government.”
Still, though, some who work in and around Hood County’s justice system indicated to the HCN that they are disturbed by the downward trend and what it could mean to the community’s safety and to funding for other county departments.
At a time when Class A and Class B misdemeanor prosecutions have dropped from a median average of 1,200 cases per year to about 650, the county’s population numbers have been steadily rising.
Class A and Class B misdemeanors include crimes such as Driving While Intoxicated (DWI), drug possession, theft and assault family violence.
kcruz@hcnews.com | 817-573-7066, ext. 258
