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The 2024 budget for the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office is in the ballpark of $15 million. $13 million of that is allocated to personnel expenditures. In 2010, the budget was $7 million with $6 million going to personnel. Over the last four terms in office, the district attorney’s office has doubled its budget, with the bulk of that going to salaries. Every year, the District Attorney states that his goal is to reduce the average caseload for his attorneys. From approximately 230 cases per attorney in 2010 to 145 cases per attorney in 2024 with virtually no improvement in results.
What has been the return on taxpayer investment? The District Attorney’s Office’s no longer publicly records their trial win rate. In 2008, the office won 71% of their jury trials. In the first year of the Howe administration, the trial win rate dropped to 66%. Over the course of four terms, the trial win rate consistently stayed around the high 60s before cratering in 2019 to a measly 53%. In 2020, the office rebounded to 67% before the office stopped publicly reporting their trial statistics.
Over the last four years, the office has hemorrhaged experienced staff. The office lost an entire sex crimes unit. The office lost an entire drug unit. It lost the head of its traffic unit and the head of its economic crimes unit. An exodus of experienced and mid-level prosecutors left for a variety of reasons and were replaced with fresh law school graduates and inexperienced prosecutors. Today, 40% of the District Attorney’s Office has five or fewer years of experience.
For the highest paying District Attorney’s Office in the state to be loaded with unexperienced prosecutors speaks to a bigger problem within the office. The experienced prosecutors do not have enough time to truly mentor the younger attorneys and the office offers little in the way of training.
The people of Johnson County deserve a District Attorney who can properly staff the office with competent, experienced prosecutors and effectively train the younger prosecutors to step into leadership roles as they grow in their careers. Over the last 20 years there has been a 20% drop in the public’s confidence that the District Attorney’s Office can competently prosecute criminals.
With the budget doubling, confidence, and trial statistics plummeting, it’s clear that the current District Attorney is wasting your tax dollars. As your District Attorney, I’ll be a better steward of your tax dollars. I’ll restore confidence in the office’s ability to prosecute criminals and I’ll ensure that no dollar goes wasted. Its time for change. Together we can do better.
-DG