FY26 BUDGET PRESENTATION - MCAO.PPTX

MCAO
FY26 Budget Presentation
Wednesday, January 29, 2025
1

MCAO Leadership
County Attorney
Rachel Mitchell
Chief Deputy
Blaine Gadow
CFO/MCAO
Catherine 
Martin
2

MCAO 
OVERVIEW
CRIMINAL
CIVIL
MCAO prosecutes most crimes you 
see on the news plus thousands more 
you never hear about.
Civil Division provides legal 
advice to 50+ County 
departments, using a wide range 
of legal specialties.
3

MCAO 
OVERVIEW
• Every case must be reviewed
• Filed, furthered, or turned-down
• Majority meet our charging standard 
of “reasonable likelihood of 
conviction” and are filed.
MCAO received
45,000 case 
referrals 
from local law 
enforcement
*2023 data
4

CURRENT BUDGET STATUS
FY 24/25 Budget: 
$155 million
Personnel:
1152 authorized positions
5

REQUEST
$1 million above baseline
12 positions
6

These are absolute needs, 
not wants.
7

BACKGROUND
Critical to ensuring justice
• Review BWC and other video to 
remove victim information/images
• Flag sensitive material for further 
review
• Use complex software to maintain 
precise records 
Redaction 
Specialists
8

CURRENT 
WORKLOAD
• In 2024, specialists 
viewed/redacted 8,036 videos
• Nearly 35,000 work hours spent 
on redaction
• Specialists often handle ‘rush’ 
requests
• Paralegals handle some redaction 
but have additional and different 
mission-critical responsibilities
Redaction 
Specialists
9

CURRENT
STATUS
• 32 redaction specialists (including 
two supervisors)
• Cannot keep up with volume
• Court requires turn-around time of 
30 days
• Current turn-around: SIX WEEKS
Redaction 
Specialists
10

REQUEST
10 Redaction Specialists
(Includes one supervisor)
GOALS:
ü Reduce turn-around time
ü Increase the number of recordings redacted
ü Meet court requirements
11

BACKGROUND
• The MCAO website is a critical 
link to the community 
• Provides info and resources on 
crime trends
• Helps victims gain assistance and 
navigate the system
• 2024 crime trend campaigns:  
500+ hours 
• Handled by 1 developer
Senior Web 
Developer/Designer
12

BACKGROUND
• No in-house backup
• Anticipating 6+ campaigns in 
2025
• HR, public records, comms team 
and others rely heavily on web 
updates to meet goals
Senior Web 
Developer/Designer
13

REQUEST
One Senior Lead Web 
Designer/Developer
14

BACKGROUND
• MCAO should handle Public 
Fiduciary work
• Don’t currently have in-house 
expertise
• Must borrow from other practice 
areas or outsource.
Senior Civil Attorney 
for Probate
15

REQUEST
One Senior Civil Attorney
Probate
16

LOOKING AHEAD
17

SPACE
MCAO’s buildings 
are nearly full
Doing the best with 
what we have
• Converting conference rooms to 
offices
• “Re-stacking” the building
• Collaboration is key
• Can’t tele-work as easily 
BUDGET-NEUTRAL SOLUTION:
Repurpose existing county office space
18

ADDITIONAL 
BUILDING ISSUES
ON THE FIVE-YEAR 
PLAN
Please keep it on your radar.
Climate
19

ARPA
• ARPA funds cover 14 positions 
and diversion programming. 
• Expires in FY2027 (Dec. 2026)
• Will be included in our request for 
next year
Expires in 
FY 2027
20

Questions?
21