To: Board of Supervisors
From: Diana Becton, District Attorney
Report Title: Add Positions for the Byrne Discretionary Community Project Grants Program in the District Attorney’s Office
Recommendation: Recommendation of the County Administrator
RECOMMENDATIONS:
ADOPT Position Adjustment Resolution No. 26666 to add two (2) Deputy District Attorney I (2KWA) (represented) at salary plan and grade MA5 1001 ($10,873-$10,873); add one (1) District Attorney Senior Inspector (6KVA) (represented) at salary plan and grade XJX 1970 ($11,016 - $15,250); and add one (1) Crime Analyst (64VA) (represented) at salary plan and grade V#5 1002 ($8,733 - $11,146) in the District Attorney's Office.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Approval of this adjustment will result in a salaries and benefits cost of approximately $697,116 annually for the four positions, which will be 100% offset by the new federal grant revenue from the Byrne Discretionary Community Project Grants Program. There is no net county cost impact.
The District Attorney’s Office has been awarded the Byrne Discretionary Community Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) in the amount of $600,000 for the Organized Retail Theft Prevention and Prosecution project. In addition, the District Attorney's Office has also been awarded the Byrne Discretionary Community Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) in the amount of $500,000 for the Healing and Justice for Labor Trafficking Survivors project. Grant funding is anticipated for three years, with the option of a no cost extension through year four.
BACKGROUND:
The District Attorney’s Office is requesting to add four (4) new positions as follows:
• One (1) Deputy District Attorney (DDA) position and one (1) District Attorney Senior Inspector position to work on the Organized Retail Theft Prevention and Prosecution project.
• One (1) Deputy District Attorney position and one (1) Crime Analyst position to work on the Healing and Justice for Labor Trafficking Survivors project.
Organized Retail Theft Prevention and Prosecution
The rise of Organized Retail Theft (ORT) Crime in recent years has created a significant and growing burden on prosecutorial resources within our County. The District Attorney’s Office receives more than 1,100 theft-related cases annually, with nearly 600 of those referred as felonies. The Department has had the need for dedicated Deputy District Attorneys (DDAs) to work on Organized Retail Theft crime under a vertical prosecution model for over three years, but has been unable to secure dedicated funding for this program area in the past.
In FY25-26, increasing ORT caseloads required the Department to temporarily reassign two attorneys from other prosecution units while awaiting federal grant funding. Following notification that the BJA grant was awarded, the Department requests one grant-funded DDA position for ORT prosecution. This new position will allow one reassigned DDA to return to their previous unit.
In addition, the Department has not had a dedicated District Attorney Senior Inspector for ORT investigations due to limited funding. As a result of the new federal earmark grant, the Department now requests one Senior Inspector to support the DDAs and conduct ORT-related investigations.
Healing and Justice for Human Trafficking Survivors
The Department currently has one Deputy District Attorney (DDA) providing prosecution services supporting both the State Labor Commissioner’s Office funded Wage Theft grant and an interdepartmental agreement with EHSD for labor trafficking prosecution. The current DDA is at full capacity to work on labor trafficking cases under these two existing programs.
Human trafficking cases are rarely reported by victims or witnesses. Proactive law enforcement work is necessary to address this insidious problem. Through the proactive and robust outreach and human trafficking operations administered by the HTTF, the Wage Theft program, and the EHSD funded Labor Trafficking program, there has been an increase in human trafficking cases and the additional needs for greater support and services for trafficking survivors. Therefore, the Department is requesting to add another DDA position to work closely with the Victim Witness Assistant Unit and the Investigative Unit to provide additional support and services to survivors of Labor Trafficking under the newly awarded Federal earmark grant.
In addition, a Crime Analyst position is being proposed to assist the District Attorney’s Office in the investigation and prosecution of human trafficking cases. A Crime Analyst would directly support human trafficking operations in several ways, including:
• Providing real time access of databases and real time inspection and analysis of seized phones as investigations dynamically develop.
• Creating a database for all the runaway juveniles in the county who are at high risk of being forced into trafficking, allowing investigators to search for advertisements posted by traffickers and conduct operations to rescue runaway children.
• Creating a general database of commercial sex workers and traffickers that will assist investigators target these individuals during proactive human trafficking operations.
• Providing complex analysis of financial records to support the prosecution and investigation of trafficking cases.
• Identifying networks and financial relationships associated with large-scale illicit establishments to support investigation and prosecution.
The Department is committed to fully funding the positions with the dedicated federal revenue and will continue to seek external grant funding to continue to support these program areas. If funding discontinues in future years, the Department will re-evaluate and, if necessary, eliminate the positions, as the General Fund is not expected to absorb future costs.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
If unapproved, the District Attorney's Office will be unable to provide the dedicated staff to support the Organized Retail Theft Prevention and Prosecution project and the Healing and Justice for Labor Trafficking Survivors project as funded by the Byrne Discretionary Community Project Grants Program.