Lawrence County Prosecutor: Pay inequity creating imbalance between departments

Noah Dalton, The Times-Mail
·4 min read

Lawrence County Prosecutor Samuel Arp requested a small increase in his office’s budget for next year during a Thursday hearing, while telling the Lawrence County Council that the large difference in budget amounts between the prosecutor and public defender’s offices has led to an unfair dynamic between the two in the courtroom.

The prosecutor’s office budget for 2022 was $499,720. For 2023, Arp is seeking a 9% increase that would bring the budget to $544,819. The largest portion of the increase to the budget is a 5% wage increase for attorneys.

While speaking to the council, Arp explained that the difference in budgets between the two departments has allowed the public defender's office to utilize many contracted attorneys, allowing them to more easily handle large caseloads, while he said his office has remained understaffed.

Arp said he has tried to keep his budget low, but could issue a salary mandate if the inequity continues.

“I consider myself a fiscal conservative. I've always tried to reduce my budget, keep it as low as possible. But the last two years, my administration has been being bullied and overwhelmed by the amount of defense attorneys that we have because we have private defense attorneys, we have contract defense attorneys. I'm not able to administer justice on a fair playing field. And, I have, according to this attorney general's opinion, the power to mandate. I don't know exactly how that works just yet, but I'm gonna find out.” he said.

Arp is referencing an opinion issued by former Indiana attorney general Steve Carter in 2002 that said, "If the county council fails to make appropriations for the salary of the prosecutor and the prosecutor’s deputies, it may be mandated to do so,"which cites Indiana Supreme Court case Howard County Council v. State, ex rel. Osborn, 1966, as precedent.

“If I get into the point in the next year or two, I’m not saying I’m going to get there but if I have to face what I've faced the last two years, we'll go along with a parity argument, we'll start doing case analysis and we’ll hire 10 or 14 more attorneys in my office we can fight it out in court,” Arp continued.

In 2022, the final approved budget for the public defender’s office was $896,053.

For criminal cases, the prosecutor's office employs four deputy prosecutors, a chief deputy prosecutor and Arp himself.

The full staffing proposal from chief public defender Tim Sledd’s budget proposal to the council would see his office with three full-time attorneys, four part-time attorneys, an assistant chief public defender and Sledd. In a recent council meeting, Sledd said his office would be fully staffed after a recent hire passes the Bar exam.

During his proposal to the council, Sledd explained that he plans to decrease the amount his office uses contracted attorneys with his office being nearly fully staffed.

Additionally, Lawrence County’s public defender office is one authorized through the Indiana Public Defender Commission, which offers a 40% reimbursement for agency expenditures, according to Sledd, who estimates the amount the county will receive to be between $400,000 and $457,000 for the upcoming year, including his proposed 5% increase to salaries.

Other budget estimates

  • 4-D - $269,487, previously $250,778

  • Pre-trial - $57,725, previously $49,250

  • Victim assistance - $43,529, previously $63,103

  • Emergency management - $82,358, previously $78,987

  • Statewide wireless - $1,029,548, previously $518,779

  • Emergency planning - $10,000, previously $9,000

  • Highway - $4,168,618, previously $4,009,618

  • Cumulative bridge - $902,902, previously $908,994

  • Road and street - $721,682, previously $968,514

  • Landfill - $27,850, previously $27,850

  • Bridge inspection - $35,000, previously $0

  • Commissioners - $6,725,525, previously $6,475,252

  • Courthouse - $394,800, previously $266,640

  • Plaza - $126,000, previously $100,000

  • Dunn rental - $25,000, previously $200,000

  • River boat - $264,000, previously $276,000

  • Auditor - $316,666, previously $297,975

  • Ineligible deductions - $21,600, previously $20,820

  • County elected officials - $5,800, previously $5,000

  • Jury fee - $6,000, previously $9,000

  • Courthouse Plaza lease - $0, previously $262,182

  • Plat book - $8,400, previously $12,900

  • Council - $83,686, previously $72,795

This article originally appeared on The Times-Mail: Sam Arp: Pay inequity creating imbalance between departments