AG's Office contests GOP budget claims

The Attorney General's Office traditionally handles criminal appeals of local cases, allowing local district attorneys to focus on initial prosecutions. However, after lawmakers approved the cut – about one-third of the agency's budget for legal and administrative personnel – Attorney General Josh Stein warned that his office would have to return some of those cases to local prosecutors.

A provision in a budget technical corrections bill expected to be debated Thursday would forbid that.

In Wednesday's House Appropriations Committee hearing on the bill, House GOP leaders confirmed that the provision would bar the Attorney General's Office from designating anyone else to handle criminal appeals from Superior Court at any time.

"They will have to make the appropriate choices to be able to accommodate those appeals," said Rep. Nelson Dollar, R-Wake.

Rep. Mickey Michaux, D-Durham, asked whether that means the Attorney General's Office would have to pass on appeals that it lacks the personnel to accommodate.

"He will have to make choices as to the appeals that he chooses to proceed with. It’s my understanding that the intent is that he would focus more on those criminal appeals," responded Rep. David Rogers, R-Rutherford.

"I believe we have some staff information that’s been gathered that indicates that all of the staff [cut to date] were hired by the departments they represented, so there is no reduction in his force," asserted Rep. Sarah Stevens, R-Surry.

Stein spokeswoman Laura Brewer said Stevens' statement is "not true."

"There are two different activities happening here. 45 positions were cut. Those jobs and positions are gone. They have not and will not be replaced. In the interest of full disclosure, three of those people were able to find another job at DOJ, but the position they formerly held is gone. Those cuts got our office to about $3.5 million of the overall $10 million cut," Brewer explained in an email to WRAL News.

"[Stein] went to other state agencies, boards, and commissions to ask them to pay for the attorneys who do their work. That prevented him from having to lay off even more people, but it is separate and distinct from the group who were laid off. That got us to another $3.5 million or so – which left and continues to leave about $3 million outstanding," Brewer wrote.

On Thursday morning, House Speaker Tim Moore's spokesman, Joseph Kyzer, put out a news release detailing job postings at the Attorney General's Office, implying that the agency still has sufficient capacity to handle the criminal appeals. But Brewer said they reflect attrition and retirements in other areas the agency is statutorily required to handle.

"While criminal appeals are a critical part of what our office does to keep people safe, we also do work to protect taxpayers, provide legal counsel to state agencies, use science to protect the innocent and convict the guilty, certify and train the state’s law enforcement officers, go after Medicaid fraudsters and tax cheats, and more," Brewer wrote. "That includes legal work for state agencies, council of state members, boards and commissions – in addition to operating the Crime Labs, Criminal Justice Training and Standards, Justice Academy, etc.

"In many cases, we’re replacing senior attorneys with more junior attorneys to save money, as you can note through the postings you’ve seen. We’ll continue to look for creative ways to save money, but we cannot – and don’t wish to – stop doing the work we’re statutorily required to do," she concluded. "If the legislature is going to require the Attorney General’s office to do all criminal appeals – work that we’re qualified, eager and prepared to do – we must be adequately funded to do so. That is why Attorney General Stein continues to call on the legislature to restore the $3 million still outstanding from his budget."