Extracted text (via pymupdf)
6753 characters
1 225 WEST MADISON STREET, 6TH FLOOR PHOENIX, AZ 85003 WWW.MARICOPACOUNTYATTORNEY.ORG PH. (602) 506-3411 FAX (602) 506-8102 Maricopa County Attorney Rachel H. Mitchell Intern Stipend Proposal BUSINESS CASE The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (MCAO) accepts law student interns who have completed their first two semesters of study. Those in their second (2L) and third (3L) years of study may become a Certified Limited Practice Student by seeking certification through Arizona Supreme Court’s Rule 39(c) program. The certification allows the students to appear in court for hearings, or to conduct trials, under the supervision of a supervising DCA. Students are welcome to coordinate with their schools for credit or to volunteer. Interns have the opportunity to work on different types of cases depending on their assigned bureau, including general trial cases, juvenile cases, justice court misdemeanors, and specialized prosecutions. Prosecutors in the general trial bureaus handle a variety of cases including burglary, armed robbery, felony shoplifting, drug possession, auto theft, and forgery. These bureaus are all located in downtown Phoenix. Juveniles are prosecuted in a separate Juvenile Court system that focuses on rehabilitation and support. MCAO’s juvenile facilities are located in Mesa and in downtown Phoenix. MCAO prosecutes misdemeanors in justice courts throughout Maricopa County. Prosecutors in this area handle misdemeanor DUIs, domestic violence, shoplifting, and assault. MCAO has multiple specialized bureaus that prosecute the following types of felony offenses in Superior Court: vehicular, sex crimes, domestic violence, white collar, drug sales, gang-motivated crimes, and homicide. These bureaus are all located in downtown Phoenix. Interns are assigned to all bureaus in the office. Each intern is supervised by a DCA who assigns and reviews work, but the interns may work with several prosecutors on cases for multiple prosecutors in their assigned bureau. Interns perform various tasks including legal research and writing for motion practice, trial preparation, witness preparation, involvement with witness interviews, reviewing evidence, assisting with special projects and assignments, and observing or conducting (if Rule 39(c) certified) jury trials, bench trials, and courtroom hearings. In a recent survey of our employees, more than 60 percent of current DCAs who responded were former interns at MCAO, and more than 75 percent were former interns at a prosecutor’s office while in law school. Many of the law school interns stay with MCAO for multiple semesters because they know this is where they want to work when they graduate from law school and pass the Bar. They are 2 familiar with the office and its culture, which improves retention. Simply put, repeat interns know their goal is to be a prosecutor at MCAO. MCAO attracts students from throughout the nation because it is the third largest prosecution agency in the nation. Additionally, many Arizona residents attend law school out-of-state and prefer to move back to Arizona after graduating. Lastly, out-of-state law students report having a positive internship experience at MCAO, which encourages more applicants. As a result, around one-third of the summer interns are from out-of-state law schools. Last summer, MCAO paid our interns through ACRO using available funds from vacancy savings due to our significant understaffing at that time. However, we have now filled many vacancies throughout the office and we cannot assume that vacancy savings will be sufficient to meet our intern needs going forward. Interns can provide work which is supervised by the DCA which makes us more efficient overall. MCAO recently let the pool of current interns know that MCAO will not be paying the interns as we did last year. Although the vast majority of candidates will continue with us for the summer as planned, six interns had to withdraw their application because they needed a salary to be able to come to MCAO. Additionally, several other interns will continue for the summer but at reduced hours so they can work and earn money. Previous Intern Costs: Total ACRO spending by fiscal year: FY23 through mid-April - $777,069.93 FY22 - $285,117.65 Limitations of Current System: The cost of paying the interns is not sustainable with standard staffing levels and usual attrition. Additionally, using ACRO as a long-term solution is not the best use of funds because using ACRO includes a standard upcharge of 20.85%. Lastly, from a workload perspective, only two employees have access to ACRO timecards making it difficult and inefficient to approve timecards to ensure the interns are being paid accurately and on time. INTERN STIPEND PROPOSAL The stipend program is designed to entice the best law school applicants to apply to MCAO. The program will apply only to law school students because the ultimate goal is to hire former interns as prosecutors. The stipend program will apply only during the summer, which is when students can attend full time and get the most out of their internship by seeing the life of a prosecutor at MCAO and getting exposed to MCAO’s culture and values. All law school students will receive $3,500 if they complete 320 hours (8 weeks) during a 10-week period from June 5 to August 11. This time frame allows the intern to take time off for family events, pre-planned vacations, or if they are sick during this period. Interns may work more than the 320 hours during this time, but they will not receive any additional reimbursement. The number of participants (interns) may fluctuate over time as we work to improve the program. 3 Details: $3,500 to be paid at successful completion of first MCAO internship for students 8-week internship program beginning Monday, June 5, 2023 through Friday, August 11, 2023 Utilize an Internship Program Acknowledgement form similar to McLeaps Eligibility: Interns who were interviewed, selected, cleared background and drug screen In-person internship only Must complete at least 320 hours during the 10-week internship Must successfully complete internship orientation, at least 3 of the organized tours (DPS Crime lab, MCSO MASH Unit, PPD Crime lab, Jail Tour, Juvenile Court), and complete training checklist Implementation Date: Monday, June 5, 2023 Funding Source: RICO for the first year ADDITIONAL BENEFITS Creates a more predictable budget cost for planning purposes Overall savings from current expenditures Creates a more prestigious internship program with a limited number of participants Interns will walk away with a more organized experience and more training classes