A proposal to split the prosecutorial district that covers Washington and Hancock counties drew significant support but no opposition during a January 29 legislative hearing on the bill by the Judiciary Committee. While concerns were raised about possible cost increases and whether the splitting of the district would resolve a shortage of assistant district attorneys, others felt creating a separate district for Washington County would provide greater access to justice for those facing charges and would help address the rising cost borne by county residents of drug-related crimes. The bill would place the proposal before the voters in both counties in a referendum in November, and, if approved, the district would be separated in 2023.
     Members of the Washington County legislative delegation, including Rep. Will Tuell of East Machias, the sponsor of the bill, Rep. Anne Perry of Calais and Senator Marianne Moore of Calais, all spoke in support of the measure, pointing to population, median income and geographic size differences between Washington and Hancock counties. Moore noted that it takes five hours to travel across Washington County, so the bill would give "people greater access to justice without delays." Perry stated that victims in the opioid crisis "need to get through the courts in a timely manner," to either drug court or mental health services. The bill "would help people with substance abuse problems to get the help they need," she said. "People in recovery need to be able to access these resources without delay."
     Criminal defense attorney Jeffrey Davidson, who has a law practice in Machias, pointed out, in written testimony, that because of the disparity in population -- Hancock County's population is close to double Washington County's -- no attorney who lives in Washington County has ever been the district attorney (DA) for the county. While the current district attorney for Washington and Hancock counties, Matthew Foster, who is based at the Ellsworth DA's office, has tried to be more present in the county than his predecessors, Davidson stated that "he is not here sufficiently to serve the people of Washington County in a manner that they deserve."
     During the time that Foster has been in office, Washington County has had numerous assistant district attorneys who have had little to no experience, according to Davidson. Over six months ago the DA's office in the county had two young attorneys and one older attorney, but "they simply did not win many trials," he wrote. All three have left the office and the county, and Foster "has not been able to attract any attorneys to take full-time positions in Washington County. He has sent one of his prosecutors who was working primarily in Hancock County to be full-time in Washington County, and he has made an extraordinary arrangement with the Attorney General's Office to hire another local attorney part-time." However, for the past few months the county has been functioning with half of its normal allotment of assistant district attorneys.
     "There are more than 1,000 cases, both criminal and civil, prosecuted in Washington County in both Calais and Machias courts each year," Davidson stated in his written testimony. "Currently this means that one attorney will have to handle more than 600 cases this year, and the other part-time attorney will have to handle more than 300 cases, simply because it is so difficult to recruit attorneys to work and live in Washington County. This is a ridiculous number of cases and well above the case load recommended by responsible bar associations."

Increase in drug crimes
     Davidson stated that the nature of crime in Washington County has "changed dramatically" in the past five to 10 years, with many more drug crimes, associated violence and overdoses. "We are now regularly seeing out-of-state drug dealers who have no concept of the value of life. We now have cases where people are killed over drugs, where people disappear altogether, where people are burned in their homes after being shot, where children are sexually assaulted. Our community is not accustomed to this type of crime." The police in the county "need a partner in the prosecutor's office who is available full-time to work with them on these issues. It is time that the legislature recognize this need and do what is necessary to provide Washington County residents with their own district attorney who is answerable solely to them to address the rising cost on our people of crime."
     At the hearing, Chris Gardner, chair of the Washington County commissioners, echoed Davidson's concerns, stating, "The issues facing our county are much like that of the statewide drug epidemic, but sadly the economics of rural Maine amplify the issues greatly. It has hit us all very hard and very fast and in ways that are not just common criminal activity." Because of the drug epidemic, the court system and prosecutors "have seen an explosion in workload" and the county jails "are overcrowded, under funded and not equipped to handle many who are oftentimes addicts more than they are criminals." Staffing of assistant district attorneys in Washington County "has been a revolving door" for the past few years, and as caseloads increase "prosecutors simply don't have the time to devote to meaningful prosecution, diversion and/or disposition." During the hearing, Gardner stated, "People are languishing in our county jails waiting for their cases to be tried." He added, "We have the wrong people in our jails. They are not criminals," but rather people with substance abuse disorders.
     Regarding any cost increases, Gardner said that the county commissioners are ready to help fund any increases needed in the county budget. He noted that the state police have pulled back in Washington County and that local law enforcement in towns and cities have cut their forces. In response, over the past three budget cycles the county has added to the county sheriff's office budget, almost doubling the force.
     Washington County Sheriff Barry Curtis, who requested that the bill be introduced, said he had seen a decline in the number of cases prosecuted since he became sheriff in 2014, which he said correlated with the lack of staff in the Washington County DA's office. "Cases are pled down or dismissed," he said. "It is my opinion the citizens of Washington County would greatly benefit from having our own district attorney. Having a district attorney, dedicated to the people of Washington County, would allow better management of the offices and caseloads as well as allow more time to work hand in hand with law enforcement."
     Matthew Dana II, the Indian Township police chief, noted that Washington County has the highest population density of Natives of any of the state's counties. He felt it was important to have district attorneys familiar with tribal court jurisdiction, as sometimes in the same case charges can be brought in both tribal and Maine district courts for the same defendant. "To have assistant district attorneys and the district attorney who deal with these types of cases on a frequent basis would greatly benefit Washington County and the Passamaquoddy Tribe."

A human resources problem
     Testifying neither for nor against the bill, Foster admitted that the level of needed DA office staffing wouldn't change with a splitting of the district, but redistricting would affect the cost-sharing among the eight current prosecutorial districts for the $350,000 budget of the Maine district attorneys' technical services office, resulting in increased costs for Hancock and Washington counties.
     He also admitted it's been difficult to manage "people two hours away," although he noted Calais and Machias are an hour apart. "We have had openings for assistant district attorneys in Washington County for six months with zero applications," he said, noting there is only one part-time assistant district attorney presently working in the county. "I can't find anybody to fill those positions," he said, but he didn't see how separating the district "solves this human resources problem." He added, "I understand the want and need for local control, but this proposal is like proposing to build a school but not having any teachers to teach in it."
     Foster said the number of cases has not increased over the years, but the time needed to review them "has increased exponentially." About 65% to 70% of the 3,800 to 4,000 cases that the office handles each year are in Hancock County.
     Maeghan Maloney, district attorney for Kennebec and Somerset counties, expressed concern about using state resources to create another DA position and noted that there are only eight district attorneys covering Maine's 16 counties. She would prefer to see a treatment prosecutor in every prosecutorial district to help with substance use and mental health cases instead of hiring more administrators.
     The Judiciary Committee has not yet scheduled a work session on the bill.