SPOKANE COUNTY -- It's getting harder to keep criminals behind bars in Spokane County, especially as budget cuts loom at the jail and prosecutors office. Just last week, the county announced they are cutting up to eight attorneys from the county payroll.
It comes down to resources. The county already doesn't have enough and they are going to see even less very soon.
Jack Driscol works as the Chief Criminal Deputy for the County Prosecutors Office and is witnessing the largest cut to prosecutors they have ever seen.
"We'll probably cut out district court until in half," said Driscol.
They currently have eight prosecutors working all 10-thousand misdemeanor cases yearly from DUI's to shoplifting. But seven of those prosecutors are being let go because of budget cuts. The county plans on moving some prosecutors around. But it still means only four people will do the job what was once twice that many.
Instead of focusing on domestic violence cases and DUI's, they'll be letting some criminals back out onto the streets even faster.
"These other crimes will get less attention and won't get handled in a timely fashion or won't get prosecuted at all," said Driscol.
Many of these first or second time offenders won't see a second of jail time. Instead, they will participate in things like theft awareness programs.
"Is that fair to our citizens. fair to the case? It's not how we handle them currently, it's not how we prefer to handle them, but it's the reality when you're told you have to lay off this many people," said Driscol.
