District Attorney Carl asks for a legal assistant amid rising caseload

District Attorney Carl told committee members the district attorney's office is requesting a 1.0 FTE legal assistant for the 2027 budget, arguing the office has not added a legal assistant since 2004 despite growth in attorney positions to 8.5 full‑time equivalents. "We have not had an additional legal assistant position added since 2004," he said. (Carl)

Carl described how administrative work has fallen to the office manager and how attorneys spend time on routine tasks that could be handled by a legal assistant. He urged the committee to consider the request as a way to improve office efficiency and to reduce pressures on attorneys; staff and committee members asked for additional budget details and possible offsets before forwarding a recommendation.