Prosecutor shortage nationwide

NEWPORT — Pend Oreille County isn’t the only county in the tri-state area that has a shortage of prosecuting attorneys.

Tri County Superior Court Judge Lech Radzimski, who hears cases in Ferry, Stevens and Pend Oreille Counties, says there is a statewide lack of prosecutors.

“Folks are just not wanting to be prosecutors these days, for some reason,” he says.

Pend Oreille County Prosecutor Dolly Hunt says the lack of prosecuting attorneys isn’t confined to Pend Oreille County or even Washington. It’s a nationwide problem.

“This issue is not unique to our area,” Hunt says. “District attorney and prosecutorial offices across the state and nation are facing similar staffing difficulties due to a combination of high caseloads, competitive private sector opportunities and the demanding nature of public service work.”

There are currently three prosecuting attorney openings in Pend Oreille County. The most recent departure was when deputy prosecutor, Lori Preuss, left in June. That left just Hunt for felony cases and civil matters and deputy prosecutor Samantha Brookman, who handles District Court cases, where misdemeanors are handled.

“Despite these challenges, our office has taken several steps to ensure the continued delivery of justice and public safety,” Hunt says. She has been actively recruiting through law school partnerships, bar associations, public interest job boards and national job postings, but to no avail.

Brookman was the last prosecuting attorney hired. That was in September 2023.

Hunt has restructured internal workloads for efficiency and is working to improve retention through professional development opportunities. She says she advocates for competitive compensation to reflect the importance and difficulty of the work.

The prosecuting positions advertised on the county’s website offer starting pay ranging from $81,000 a year to $100,000 and were updated Aug. 1. The county also offers a $10,000 bonus.

Hunt says she’s increased collaboration with law enforcement and community partners to streamline case preparation and focus on the most serious offenses.

Hunt prioritizes the most serious and impactful cases — those involving violent crimes, threats to public safety and repeat offenders. “At the same time, we’re working to resolve lower-level cases efficiently, using diversion programs and other alternatives when appropriate, to reduce strain on the system while still holding individuals accountable.”

Hunt wants to use technology to make the work more efficient.

Ferry County Prosecutor L. Michael Golden says Stevens County has an electronic case management system, which streamlines the paperwork process. He plans to make a case to the Ferry County commissioners for a similar system.

“It’s just software, but it handles calendaring, creation of documents, dissemination of discovery, witness notifications and a few other things that we do completely manually at this time,” he says.

When Golden came out of retirement to take the job last year, he was the sixth prosecutor in 12 months.

“I have been doing this job alone since I was appointed in November 2024, and I doubt I will get anyone in to help me this year,” he says. He handles all felonies, misdemeanors, civil matters and risk management and advises the county will get anyone in to help me this year,” he says. He handles all felonies, misdemeanors, civil matters and risk management and advises the county commissioners and other elected county officials.

Stevens County Prosecutor Erika George says Stevens County is also short on prosecutors.

“We are down a felony prosecutor, District Court prosecutor and civil deputy,” George says. When fully staffed she has an eight-attorney office, counting herself, though attorney staffing levels haven’t increased since at least 2006, George says.

“For our office, the lack of prosecutors obviously causes a workload issue, as my attorneys generally have a higher caseload than they would in other offices,” George says. She herself has a felony caseload and a District Court caseload.

Rural counties face a challenge when recruiting.

“There is definitely a statewide shortage, but it is compounded when we try to recruit to rural counties like there in Pend Oreille and here in Stevens County,” George says. The counties haven’t been “super competitive in pay,” she says.

Golden says there are other challenges for rural counties like Ferry County. In addition to pay, rural areas tend to be more conservative.

“Since the political spectrum is so divided, many people won’t leave the cities because the culture there is so different from the rural culture,” Golden says. “Essentially, the pay is low, the resources are scarce, there is no dating pool for those looking to start a family and the culture is more conservative.”

Golden says when he worked in private practice as a defense attorney in Colville, he had applicants decide to volunteer in the Spokane County’s Prosecutor’s Office and defense offices rather than take a paying job in Colville.

“They wouldn’t leave the city,” Golden says. “It’s worse here in Republic, where we are even more remote and have very few resources.”

Greg Hicks was a deputy prosecutor in Pend Oreille County for more than 30 years. Before he retired in February 2024, he made a pitch to Pend Oreille County commissioners for a $10,000 retention bonus to stay.

Hicks says he was making in the low- to mid$80,000 a year range at the time. The $10,000 was what the county was offering new attorneys as a bonus.

Since it was a contract year for the prosecutor’s union, the matter was referred to the negotiations, where it wasn’t brought up, Hicks says.

“I felt like I was stabbed in the back,” he says.

While the union did get salary increases for prosecuting attorneys, that didn’t address his desire to be paid for his experience and willingness to stay. So Hicks retired. He has been working as a judge pro-tem in Spokane County, something he has done for years. He says Spokane County isn’t getting prosecutors either.

“Spokane is in bad shape,” he says. He says the state Attorney General’s Office has the most money to pay attorneys. “They’re poaching from everybody.”

The lack of attorneys can affect how things are done in prosecutor’s offices.

“As far as doing things differently, we haven’t quite gotten to the point where we aren’t charging cases or limiting ourselves, although we are right on the cusp at times,” George says.

Hunt says there are very real strains on the system, but she is committed to making it work.

“While the challenges remain real, we are committed to maintaining public trust and ensuring justice is served,” she says.