BORDER D.A.'S THREATEN TO QUIT

HARLINGEN, Texas (AP) -- Almost three months after Congress set aside $12
million for local district attorneys stuck with hand-me-down federal drug
cases, frustrated prosecutors are still waiting for the money.

The money was supposed to ease the financial crisis facing some local courts
along the U.S.-Mexico border with multimillion-dollar tabs for prosecuting
the federal cases.

But disagreement flared over how counties could spend the emergency cash,
and thus not a single district attorney from Brownsville to San Diego has
received a penny.

Lawmakers blame the Justice Department. The Justice Department blames
Congress.

Border prosecutors say they' re through arguing. After Oct. 1, many say they
will no longer accept federal cases.

" It doesn' t make me feel any better; it' s just that I can' t afford to do
it anymore and do my job, too, " Starr County District Attorney Heriberto
Silva said. " I can' t be doing 250 drug cases that don' t belong to me."

The bigger drug busts made at international bridges and roadblocks go to
federal court. But the minor catches -- less than 50 pounds of pot, or small
quantities of cocaine -- are generally passed off to local courts.

The petty arrests were once a sporadic hassle, but with the number of
federal agents and drug crackdowns on the rise, border counties have ended
up spending millions to prosecute federal drug cases.

In June, when Congress set aside the emergency money, it limited its use to
" court costs, courtroom technology, the building of holding spaces,
administrative expenses and indigent defense."

District attorneys say that doesn' t make sense because the staggering cost
of jail and prosecution -- not included in the language -- is what drove
border counties to demand help from Washington.

" The money is out there, but we can' t use it to pay for the places we' re
taking a hit, " Cameron County District Attorney Yolanda De Leon said. The
county loses $100 million a year in courtroom and jail expenses from federal
drug prosecutions, she said.

The border lawyers planned to meet this week at the Texas District and
County Attorneys Association conference to discuss the problem.

" It makes no sense we' d continue to give this away to the federal
government, " De Leon said. " Not when we' re encountering real difficulties
paying for basic services."

Justice Department spokesmen said they can' t pay for jail and prosecution
because Congress did not include those expenses in the language of the bill.

" For whatever reason the bill that passed does not include" those expenses,
said Bill Blagg, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas. " It' s
not possible for us to pay prosecution and incarceration because of the
language."

Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who sponsored the legislation, said the
Justice Department has kept the money out of reach of border communities by
sticking to a narrow interpretation of the guidelines.

" The Justice Department knows full well for what purposes this money was
appropriated, " Hutchison said. " (It) has got to stop the bureaucratic
mumbo-jumbo and get the money in the hands of those who are on the front
line of the war on drugs."

State prosecutors first threatened to ban federal drug cases from their
courtrooms this spring.

In response, Congress set aside $12 million to pay for the drug trials. The
money was to be divided among California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

In exchange, prosecutors agreed to try federal cases for three more
months -- but unless more money was handed down by Oct. 1, they warned, the
courtroom door would swing shut.

" I don' t know where the ball got dropped, " said Silva, who prosecutes
crime for three border counties: Starr, Jim Hogg and Duval.

" I already represent the police and the sheriffs, but as of next month, I
won' t have to represent the DEA, the FBI and everybody else, " he said. "
It' ll be a lot easier to get around this courthouse."

On the Net:

Department of Justice: http://www.usdoj.gov

Texas District and County Attorneys Association: http://www.tdcaa.com