Assistant Prosecutor Tony Miller gave us a detailed look at the Allen County Prosecutor's Office.
The Allen County Prosecutor's Office handles more than 500 cases a year. Assistant Prosecutor Tony Miller told us that's a huge workload for twelve prosecutors. There are four main divisions in the Prosecutor's Office: Criminal Division, Civil Division, Juvenile Division and Children Services. Miller says it's the adult criminal division that gets the most attention because it handles the high profile felony cases. Half of Allen County's prosecutors dedicate their time to that division. With such a heavy workload, Miller says they try to plea bargain instead of going to trial whenever they can. With each trial costing about $5,000 and taking approximately a week, plus two weeks of preparation time, it makes good sense to settle the cases out of court. But Miller says he's seen an odd trend in Allen County lately that doesn't seem to be happening in other counties. He says more and more cases are going to trial than ever before. "We have a changing environment with defendants. We have a lot of defendants coming in and saying, 'Maybe I did it, maybe not. Prove it.' I don't know what's going on but there is a big trend in defendants being more and more difficult to deal with, not only for prosecutors but for their own defense attorneys."
Miller says the prosecutor's office works to be good stewards of the public tax money and they treat the job as a people business. "We try to do the right thing for the right people for the right reasons."
Also at Monday's meeting, we auctioned off dinner for ten from Log Cabin Traditions. Judge Warren had the winning bid of $300.