DISTRICT ATTORNEY COULD LOSE SOME OF HIS STAFF

SHELBY - The Cleveland County District Attorney's office could lose an
assistant district attorney and its investigator if budget cuts recommended
by the Senate Subcommittee on Justice and Public Safety stand.

Bill Young, DA for the 27B District covering Lincoln and Cleveland
counties, said Thursday that the senate subcommittee's recommendations cut
"core court functions."

Young said that losing an ADA and the investigator will further jam the
backlog of cases. The DA's office has eight ADAs and one investigator.

Sen. Allen Wellons, D-Johnston, chairman of the subcommittee recommending
the cuts, said, "We are taking another look at the proposed cuts to see if
we can restore the 13 clerk positions and the 13 DA investigators positions."

Wellons said that the budget is a "work in progress."

"We wanted to open it up and get public input," Wellons said.

Young said he wants to know why the senate subcommittee chose to ignore
recommendations made by the Administrative Office of the Courts.

"They asked the AOC for budget and proposed cuts, and then they don't adopt
them," Young said.

Included in the AOC proposed cuts are sentencing services, drug treatment
court, dispute settlement centers and the sentencing commission. The total
cut by the AOC would equal $11,000,669.

"The senate committee cuts eliminates the people in the trenches," Young
said. "My big beef is why did they not follow the recommendation of the AOC?

"What the AOC proposed to cut was fluff, things we have lived without for
years," Young said. "They are programs that were adopted when the state had
money."

The senate budget committee's plan will cut seven ADA positions, 13 clerk
positions, 15 magistrate positions, 13 DA investigators positions and 12
victim and witness/legal assistant positions statewide - a total of
$10,507,376.

"The AOC had basically cut out a lot of the programs that were prevention,
alternative prison programs," Wellons said. "We want to keep these programs
to continue directing those we can from prison."

Young said his staff knows about the possible cuts. He declined to say
which ADA position will be eliminated if the cuts are passed.

Young said he went to Raleigh Wednesday to meet with the Cleveland and
Lincoln county delegations to lobby against the cuts.

"The legislators have the power to stop this," Young said.