Delegation panel votes to fund additional prosecutor position

LACONIA — The Belknap County Attorney’s Office will be able to add one more attorney to its staff, a move which will bring the caseload on individual attorneys closer to the recommended standard.

The County Delegation’s Executive Committee approved a budget for the prosecutor’s office for the coming year of nearly $1.1 million, which will increase the number of attorneys in the office from five to six.

County Attorney Andrew Livernois had initially asked for two additional assistants, but on Monday the committee signaled that it was inclined to recommend appropriating funds to cover the cost of pay and benefits for one new attorney, and asked Livernois to return with revised budget figures. On Thursday the committee voted 4-0 to fund that one position.

Livernois told the committee he appreciated their support for the staff increase, the first he has made since becoming county attorney nearly four years ago.

Without the additional help, Livernois said he and the other attorneys in his office would continue to handle 140 to 150 cases at a time, which he said was far above the state attorney general’s recommended caseload for prosecutors of 75 to 100 cases.

He said the high caseload was due partly to the volume of criminal complaints filed with his office which handles all felony cases except for homicides, as well as delays in the court system caused by the COVID pandemic.

Livernois said the new position would be advertised with a starting salary of $70,000, plus benefits. He said he hoped to have the new attorney on staff by April 1.

His initial budget request was for $1.25 million, which included money for two new attorneys.

The recommended $1.1 million would represent an 8.7% increase in the county attorney’s budget for the current year, based on projected spending.

Livernois told the committee that staff turnover and changes in health insurance coverage for some on his staff resulted in some budget savings.