CASH-STRAPPED DA TO START REJECTING FEDERAL DRUG CASES

In a second attempt to be reimbursed for prosecuting federal drug cases,
the El Paso County district attorney said that after Sunday, the county
will no longer accept such cases.

District Attorney Jaime Esparza said the county has not received its
portion of $12 million promised to border counties in four states.

The money, which was to be shared equally among Texas, New Mexico, Arizona
and California, was to help cover the costs of prosecuting federal drug
cases. The Western District of Texas, which includes El Paso County, was to
receive about $1.5 million.

It costs El Paso taxpayers about $8 million a year to prosecute about 500
federal drug cases handled by El Paso prosecutors, Esparza said. Those
cases originate at the international ports of entry and checkpoints, he said.

"Even if El Paso County got all the money owed, it would not be nearly
enough to fully reimburse El Paso County for the work they do," Esparza said.

Daryl Fields, spokesman for Bill Blagg, U.S. attorney for the Western
District, said that if the district attorneys reject cases, the Justice
Department will "readjust our resources where the case levels are expected
to increase."

Fields said the cases will be prosecuted even if the El Paso district
attorney's office doesn't pick up the load.

"No one is going to get a free walk," he said. "We'll do what we have to do."

One agreement has been reached between the Justice Department and the Val
Verde County, Texas, district attorney.

In June, border district attorneys said they would stop taking federal drug
cases by July 1 unless reimbursed for their costs. In response, Congress
appropriated $12 million for "court costs, courtroom technology, the
building of holding spaces, administrative expenses and indigent defense."

Esparza said that the costs of pretrial incarceration, which are 75 percent
of the total costs of a case, and prosecution costs should also be reimbursed.

U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, has notified U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey
Hutchison, R-Texas, to prepare a Senate bill amendment for the next
legislative session, to begin in January, to allow the use of the $12
million for prosecution and pretrial incarceration, said Peter Brock,
community liaison for Reyes.

Jennifer Shubinski may be reached at jshubinski@elpasotimes.com