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SALT LAKE CITY — After a sometimes heated discussion, Salt Lake County leaders Tuesday unanimously approved more than $313,000 in additional funding to help the county district attorney's office handle its skyrocketing caseload due to Operation Rio Grande.
The decision came after a back-and-forth exchange between District Attorney Sim Gill and County Council Chairman Steve DeBry, at times raising their voices and interrupting each other.
By the end of the meeting, after the County Council unanimously approved $313,540 to fund two new prosecuting attorneys and one additional paralegal for Gill's office, both men insisted they meant no disrespect to the other, but rather they're both "passionate" about their responsibilities to the taxpayer and public safety.
Gill last week warned the County Council that without additional resources, the district attorney's office would not be able to adequately handle and prosecute the wave of cases that have resulted since Operation Rio Grande launched in August.
In the past two months alone, Gill said the operation — a state-lead, multiagency effort to root out lawlessness in Salt Lake City's most troubled neighborhood — has resulted in more than 1,100 new cases for his office.
Currently, only one prosecutor is assigned to handle all of them, Gill said, and the cases will only grow as Operation Rio Grande continues over the next two years until the Road Home shelter shutters in June 2019.
So in an unusual budget request — before the county's budget cycle begins in November — Gill requested the additional employee slots. That rankled DeBry, who wondered why the positions couldn't wait a few more months, especially because as Gill came before the council Tuesday, three existing positions in the district attorney's office were vacant.
DeBry also said he was "a little bit hot" over an email Gill's chief deputy, Ralph Chamness, sent to council members that suggested his office would not participate in Operation Rio Grande if the council didn't fund the new positions.
"At this point, the decision on further participation in the operation will solely hinge on the Council’s decision," the email said. "If the Council decides to deny the request, we will simply stop our participation in the operation."
DeBry pointed out that Gill was granted about 15 new staff positions last year, and he the councilman wondered aloud whether the district attorney is trying to "build a kingdom" or "take advantage of a crisis" to build up his office's staff.
"You're sitting on three empty (employee slots), and you're coming back for more," DeBry said. "I'm thinking, 'Wait a minute. What's wrong with this picture?' It has nothing to do with whether I'm a proponent of Rio Grande or not; I'm a huge proponent. … But my point is those are questions that were in my mind because I take this very seriously."
"I take my job just as seriously as you take your job," Gill rebuked.
The district attorney said he can't afford to wait until the regular budget cycle begins because he's already "two months behind" in caseload from Operation Rio Grande.
"I'm already hammered. My baseline needs are not being met," Gill told DeBry. "For the last seven years, I have come to this council and I have methodically …"
"And you've gotten the lion's share," DeBry interrupted. "How long have you been empty on these three allocations?"
Gill said employees have "come and gone," adding that his office just recently let go of two employees who were not "cutting the mustard."
In an interview after the meeting, Gill said his office is already seeking to fill those positions, but he emphasized that he's requested three more employees — on top of his office's current staff — to handle the Rio Grande caseload in an office that's already stretched too thin.
"My job is to come to share with this body in the most truthful way that I can what the needs of law enforcement and my responsibilities are," Gill said.
"But it begs the question in my mind, if you're sitting on those (vacant positions) for a long time, maybe you don't need them that bad," DeBry said.
"I can assure you without any reservation that the resources that I have I don't squander," the district attorney rebuked.
Gill also said Operation Rio Grande cases require "invested prosecutions" that entail consistent attention as staffers track offenders through various courts to ensure they stick with programs — such as drug court — and keep them accountable if they fail to stay in treatment.
Though they've expressed support for Operation Rio Grande, DeBry and other County Council members have raised their eyebrows at how it will impact the county's budget. The state has estimated the operation will cost $67 million over the next two years.
Salt Lake County leaders predict it will require about $30 million to pay for the operation over the next two years when factoring in ongoing jail, health department, behavioral health and criminal justice services. That includes about $4 million this year, $13.6 million in 2018, and $14.7 million in 2019.
