PORT ANGELES — A recently retired criminal trial lawyer will rejoin the Clallam County workforce on a part-time basis next year, Prosecuting Attorney Mark Nichols said.
County Administrator Jim Jones recommended — and county commissioners agreed to — Nichols’ budget request to rehire former Chief Criminal Deputy John Troberg for up to 79 hours per month in 2016.
Nichols’ other budget requests for a full-time felony deputy and travel and training expenses, however, were not recommended by the administrator.
Troberg, a veteran prosecutor who also has experience as a defense and civil attorney, will be a mentor to Clallam County’s cadre of young deputy prosecutors for one year, Jones said.
“He brings tremendous institutional knowledge to the table,” Nichols told commissioners in a budget meeting last Tuesday.
Although he left county employment only a month ago, Troberg has “expressed a willingness, actually a strong interest, in coming back,” Nichols said.
“We refer to him as being on sabbatical.”
Said Commissioner Jim McEntire: “Glad you’re reeling him back in.”
Nichols told commissioners that a full-time felony deputy would help his office work through a backlog of referrals — alleged crimes that law enforcement has referred to the prosecutor’s office that have not yet been charged.
“Over the course of time, as far back as I can remember, there has always been a running backlog of police referrals for felony misconduct that have sat in felony division in the office,” said Nichols, who served as former Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney Deborah Kelly’s chief deputy for eight years.
Although violent crime is down in Clallam County, Nichols said there is a “growing discomfort and a palpable concern” among constituents countywide over a generalized increase in property crime and drug crime.
“It’s an area where Clallam County needs help,” Nichols said at the budget meeting.
“Property crime is something that has a corrosive effect on the public’s perception of safety, and I would submit on actual safety. Drug crimes are very much the same way.”
Hiring another full-time felony deputy, Nichols said, would help alleviate the backlog.
“This is a particular ask and need that, at different times over the course of recent history, I have heard sheriff’s representatives and police representatives say is a pinch point in county government,” Nichols said.
In a Friday interview, Commissioner Mike Chapman said he would support the funding of a new full-time deputy prosecuting attorney.
“When we added the third [Superior Court] judge, we really should have added a felony prosecutor,” Chapman said.
McEntire on Tuesday asked Nichols to help the board find ways to support the fill-time position with money in the existing budget.
“I do recognize you’ve got to achieve a dynamic balance between courts, jail, sheriff, prosecuting attorneys, etcetera,” McEntire said.
“If you get any of that stuff out of whack, the system doesn’t work as efficiently as it needs to.
Beyond the office equipment and communications devices that Jones recommended, Nichols also requested $20,000 annually for travel and training for his department, which consists of 21 full-time employees.
The Clallam County prosecuting attorney also serves as ex-officio coroner under the county charter.
“I’m interested in trying to beef up the training component, recognizing that it translates into the provision of superior service to the community through deputy prosecutors, through deputy coroners and also, frankly, through the administrative support staff who are intricately involved in the work of the office,” Nichols said.
Commissioners will approve a final budget by Dec. 8.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.