PROSECUTOR ASKS COUNTY FOR MONEY SWEETSER SAYS INCREASED CRIME, '95

Saying his office is on the brink of a breakdown, Spokane County Prosecutor Jim Sweetser is asking commissioners for a cash transfusion to make it through the year.

The 21-page request was presented at the commissioners' weekly meeting Tuesday. In it, Sweetser said $138,708 is needed for his office to "adequately deal with the county's increase in crime, 20 pending murder cases and a lack of support staff here."

Last year's 3.5 percent budget cut in the prosecutor's office is taking its toll, Sweetser said.

"We are getting by at a bare-bones minimum," he said. "There are no nice-to-haves. Pretty soon we won't be able to give any more."

More plea bargains and dismissals of cases will result if the money doesn't come through, he said.

"I don't think that's what the public wants or deserves," Sweetser said.

At least one commissioner was skeptical of Sweetser's request.

Steve Hasson said he's tired of county department heads asking commissioners for more money. "The thing that floors me is how these people can't live within their budgets," he said.

In recent weeks, commissioners approved spending an additional $100,000 for the public defender's office. They tentatively approved spending about $150,000 more a year to help the assessor's office resolve its paperwork problems and at least $200,000 a year for one more Superior Court judge.

Sweetser said Tuesday it would be easier to live within his budget if commissioners stopped shrinking it.

"I'm basically just asking for what I had before," he complained. Last year's budget cut was about $130,000.

The prosecutor warned commissioners "such omissions as speedy trial violations are inevitable" without more money. So far this year judges have dismissed two rape cases because deputy prosecutor Carol Davis took too long to bring the defendants to trial.

The judges who threw out Davis' cases said she didn't file a request for a speedy trial waiver.

Sweetser refused to admit Davis was at fault in those cases, but said his prosecutors are definitely over-worked. The three special assault prosecutors currently carry about 40 cases each, he said.

"Occasionally, the dam breaks," Sweetser said. "Your risk of error increases without adequate resources."

If commissioners come through with the money, Sweetser said it would be used to hire a fourth deputy prosecutor in the special assault unit, two paralegals and three more clerks. Additional money would be spent on computers for the extra staff.

Commissioner John Roskelley said Sweetser's request may be a response to the additional money being given to the public defenders and Superior Court.

"He's probably feeling behind the eight ball," Roskelley said.

Commissioners agreed to meet with Sweetser next Tuesday to discuss his request.

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