Department: District Attorney
Department Head/Elected Official: District Attorney, Kim Ogg
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Supplemental RCA
Type of Request: Financial Authorization
Project ID (if applicable): N/A
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable):N/A
MWDBE Contracted Goal (if applicable):N/A
MWDBE Current Achievement (if applicable):N/A
Justification for 0% MWDBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Request by the District Attorney that the court order the Office of Management and Budget to: (1) fully fund all (50 as of February 21, 2022) previously approved positions for the District Attorney’s Office (DAO); (2) fund all 127 entry level prosecutor positions as provided existing to the OMB instead of 109 positions selected by the OMB and (3) add 1% across the board to our budget instead of manipulating employee salaries at the OMB where it is incorrectly paid.
end
Background and Discussion:
Request for return of $4.9M in rollover funds, funding for competitive entry level salaries for new recruits and current prosecutors working at the entry level salary, and return of funding for 50 employee positions of varying levels, totaling $6,170,632. This requested return of monies is not a new request, nor an additional request for funding. It would simply restore the District Attorney’s Office (DAO) to the March 2021 status quo.
The DAO is operating in crisis mode. The DAO was defunded March 01, 2021, at the beginning of the FY22 budget year when $4.9M in rollover funds were taken by the Office of Management/Budget (OMB) without notice. The funds labeled as “rollover” funds were actually encumbered monies dedicated to the DAO’s two primary “pre-committed prosecutors” now called “Post Bar Fellows.” These new recruits generally replace those attorneys departing from the DAO that year. When these encumbered funds were taken without notice in March 2021, our operations were immediately placed in jeopardy. Additionally, as we made good on our offers and hired the prosecutors, it instantly resulted in operating the DAO at a deficit since March 2021.
On Feb. 21, 2022, the OMB further halted the daily operations of the DAO by reducing the budget for 50 approved, existing and open positions to zero. OMB’s actions resulted in effectively freezing the DAO’s ability to hire job applicants. It halted all promotional moves of prosecutors slated to move up to more complex caseloads like aggravated robberies and murders. It decimated employee morale.
On April 01, 2022, the OMB released the freeze on our 50 open positions but did not fund a single one. The DAO continues to operate at a deficit of $6,170,632 due to defunding of our agency by the OMB.
Finally, new OMB protocol requires adding 1% to all positions in an “across the board” increase for our DAO employees. The OMB’s new protocol for providing this increase is to add that amount to all DAO employees, but unfortunately this causes salary discrepancies among certain employees such as paid interns. Traditionally, such across the board salary increases were provided in total sum. DAO requests OMB provide this 1% increase in full at this time so that it can be appropriately utilized by the elected District Attorney for her employees.
Expected Impact:
The District Attorney’s Office ability to hire and move employees to fill vacancies was frozen from February 21, 2022 to April 01, 2022. Although the positions were released, without the additional funding, we do not have the funds to fill these 50 positions. The March 2021 defunding of the DAO created a hiring freeze and negatively affected DAO direct services to the victims of crime in Harris County. The attorney raises for our 127 entry level prosecutors cannot be processed, since the full amount we requested to the budget office was not submitted to court for approval. The Court approved the raise but the amount approved only fund 109 of the 127 positons. We are not going to treat our employees unfairly and approve some but not all entry level positions. While we contest the OMB, they retain the money. We need it.
Alternative Options:
These are essential positions for public safety that are required for the elected District Attorney to carry out the duties and legal responsibilities of her office.
Alignment with Goal(s):
X Justice and Safety
_ Economic Opportunity
_ Housing
_ Public Health
_ Transportation
_ Flooding
_ Environment
_ Governance and Customer Service
Prior Court Action (if any):
|
Date |
Agenda Item # |
Action Taken |
|
3/22/2022 |
146 |
No action taken. Commissioner Garcia tabled the item to meet with the parties. DAO has contacted Commissioner Garcia’s office to set the meeting and we are waiting to get on his calendar. |
Location:
Address (if applicable):
Precinct(s): Countywide
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Fiscal and Personnel Summary |
|
Service Name |
|
|
|
SFY 22 |
FY 23 |
Next 3 FYs |
|
Incremental Expenditures (do NOT write values in thousands or millions) |
|
Labor Expenditures |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Non-Labor Expenditures |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Total Incremental Expenditures |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Funding Sources (do NOT write values in thousands or millions) |
|
Existing Budget |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Current Budget |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Additional Budget Requested |
|
1000 - General Fund |
$3,599,535 |
$6,170,632 |
$18,511,896 |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Additional Budget Requested |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Funding Sources |
$3,599,535 |
$6,170,632 |
$18,511,896 |
|
Personnel (Fill out section only if requesting new PCNs) |
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Current Position Count for Service |
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|
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Additional Positions Requested |
- |
- |
- |
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Total Personnel |
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|
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Anticipated Implementation Date: 04/05/22
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or COVID-19 related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Vivian King, First Assistant/Chief of Staff, District Attorney’s Office
Attachments (if applicable):