Justice partners wrestle over money, plan reforms

Fulton County will spend more than $3 million to clear a backlog of cases from its court system in 2017. The move is a continued push to resolve cases that have been in limbo for more than a year as the county readies for reforms to the system.

The $3.2 million Fulton’s justice partners will spend to clear more than 100 old felony cases and thousands of civil and misdemeanor cases is part of a $7.5 million fund the county commission intends to give the courts, sheriff, district attorney and other justice organizations. That money,

which is supplemental to the departments’ budgets, was intended to pay for pilot projects or programs that would have broad, systemic impact.

Monday, the group decided to spend a portion of that money on continued backlog reduction. The move, to clear out older felony cases as well as those in front of the solicitor general and magistrate courts, are expected to reduce the jail population and will offer resolutions to people who have been in limbo while they waited to see if they were charged with a crime.

Projects funded through the $7.5 million are intended to help move cases through the system more quickly, reduce the jail population and decrease the number of people who re-offend after they are arrested. The plans also include better treatment of people with mental health issues, which county leaders hope will lead to less incarceration for that population.

The departments’ regular budgets total more than $175 million for 2017. Fulton County commissioners will vote on the additional projects when they approve the budget.

The decision to put available money toward reducing the backlog was an easy one for members of the justice coordinating committee, but others were more difficult. Each department thought they could use more money than they were getting for regular operations, and some tried to pay for their needs using the committee funds. Many of the projects the committee approved benefit individual departments in the coming year.

“It’s kind of a trade-off between things that are strategic and have a longer-term impact and all the pressing needs of the day-to-day,” said Dick Anderson, the Fulton County manager.

The committee still has about $1 million to work with, and could still choose to pay for cross-department initiatives, like expanded crisis intervention training and pre-arrest diversion programs. The group will meet again in January.

Anderson said he was pleased with the balance, as well as the fact that projects like the backlog reduction were finding success. This year, the effort has helped eliminate thousands of cases that were in flux.

“Just about everyone is supporting the mission,” said Chief Judge Gail Tusan, a chair of the committee. “We’re going to take this one year at a time.”

There was frustration on the part of Paul Howard, the district attorney, who stalked out before the meeting concluded. Howard had asked the committee to fund new positions in his public integrity unit, which investigates public officials, as well as additional staff in other areas.

Members rejected the request, saying the money was only available for 2017, and might not be recurring. New positions, they said, could only be funded if they were only intended for a year.

Howard said county representatives had told him to bring those requests to the committee. He called the process “disingenuous.” No fund requests, though, are guaranteed.

Since the committee first formed earlier this year, Howard has questioned the need for it. He was the only member of the committee who refused to sign an agreement that promised a good-faith effort in negotiations, and has been absent from some of the meetings.

Anderson suggested because Howard had not been engaged throughout the process, he might not have a full understanding of what the money was intended for — namely, one-time projects, not full-time employees.

In addition to the backlog funds, the committee agreed to fund a structured intervention program in juvenile court, recording equipment for the Magistrate court and an expansion of the DUI court, among other requests. “...we need to be careful we’re not asking for positions with ongoing funding,” said Anna Roach, Fulton’s chief strategy officer. “I’m hopeful we haven’t run afoul of our initial intent.”