Onondaga County legislators could soon be considering measures aimed at addressing a staff shortage at the district attorney’s office.
A shortage of snow plow drivers, truck mechanics, nurses, custody deputies and even lifeguards has been seen in the city of Syracuse. Now, at the county level, District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick said his office is feeling the pinch. Nearly two dozen assistant district attorneys, or ADAs, have left in the last year, and Fitzpatrick said he has had a hard time replacing them.
He said salary is one factor, and raises are one of the first priorities.
“Eliminate eight to nine spots, take that savings of money and then redistributed to the assistant DAs that are staying and make the job more attractive,” Fitzpatrick said.
ADAs currently start at $66,000 per year, and can work their way up to $87,000. Fitzpatrick said he’s losing some to private practice where they can make more and not have such a crushing workload.
“I've got assistant DAs that have 120 indicted cases pending—120. That is so far off the norm of the standard set by the National DA’s Association," Fitzpatrick said during a recent public safety committee meeting.
Fitzpatrick said cumbersome discovery laws are also a factor. That’s the burden put on prosecutors to acquire and share evidence with defense attorneys. He said Onondaga County is also not competitive in terms of staff size.
"The county closest to us in terms of population is Richmond; They have a very very similar crime rate even though it's part of New York City, and they have 80 assistant DAs. We're budgeted for 50," he said.
The county legislature could decide on a plan that includes raises or other staff changes at its March or April sessions.
