The Mojave County Attorney’s Office expects more than 1,900 criminal charges to be filed in county courts next year. Court officials are now seeking about $302,000 in state grants to meet anticipated demand, plus $38,000 in grants carried forward from last year.
The funding will come from an annual “Bridging the Gap” grant issued by the Arizona Supreme Court. The grant was initiated in 1997 as a response to the influx of inmates caused by heavy investment in law enforcement agencies throughout Arizona. With so many new defendants, the state court system struggled to keep up while still giving defendants state-mandated due process timelines. That money is now being distributed to state courts to streamline and expedite the filing of new criminal cases.
The Mojave County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote next week on whether to accept grant funds to the Mojave Superior Court.
According to the grant proposal, $283,001 of the requested grant will be used to fund the positions of Chief Justice and Adjunct Judge of the High Court of Mojave, and an additional $34,458 will be used to fund the judicial assistant’s office. It will be used for half of the hiring costs.
According to the grant proposal, the position of Chief Justice would allow courts to manage criminal cases more efficiently, while also handling warrants of escape and grand jury decisions. The Attorney General provides administrative and secretarial support to the Director to increase efficiency in scheduling, handling and managing criminal cases in the Mojave High Court.
1,993 criminal cases were filed in FY2022, and 1,964 criminal cases are expected to be filed in court by the end of this year.
“The need is great and funding is essential to adequately staffing courts with the competent professional staff necessary to handle criminal cases,” the proposal states.
Under Arizona law, defendants in custody must be tried within 150 days of arraignment. A defendant not in custody must be tried within 180 days of arraignment unless the case is designated as “complicated” or the proceedings relate to a capital offense.
The Mojave County Board of Supervisors plans to vote on whether to accept the annual grant at its next board meeting in Kingman on Monday.
