Kentucky prosecutors are warning that further state budget cuts could significantly disrupt prosecution of crimes and leave the state’s court system in shambles, reports the Louisville Courier-Journal. “It’s going to be chaos,” said Christian County Attorney Mike Foster of the Prosecutors Advisory Council, which held an emergency meeting in Frankfort yesterday. “It is the entire prosecutorial system for the state of Kentucky.”
Gov. Steve Beshear has asked all state entities — including prosecutors’ offices — to draw up plans for how they would deal with a 4 percent budget cut for the remainder of the fiscal year. A 4 percent cut — on top of cuts enacted at the start of the budget year on July 1 — could result in layoffs of up to 100 people in prosecutors’ offices, said Warren County’s Chris Cohron, president of the state Commonwealth’s Attorneys Association. “It’s very troubling,” he said. Prosecutors’ offices have nothing left to slash but staff, Foster said. That mean some crimes could go unprosecuted and others may be dismissed for lack of an available prosecutor, he said.
Link: http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20081204/NEWS01/812040395/1008