District Attorney Peter Gilchrist is in the process of hiring new prosecutors to fill the 13 additional assistant positions the NC legislature allotted Mecklenburg County for 2007.Last year, Gilchrist told the legislature Mecklenburg County needed at least 26 additional people to handle the increasing workload and we only received enough funding for 13. He has already hired seven prosecutors and still has six open positions left to fill.
Gilchrist made it clear we will not see results right away. “It will probably be a minimum of a year or 18 months – maybe two – before we feel the impact,” Gilchrist said. "The legislature gave us a real shot in the arm but it's a down payment,” Gilchrist explained. He says there are 60 murder cases that have been pending for more than a year.
Prosecuting cases more quickly may have a positive ripple effect on overcrowding at the county jail. “We've got people in jail right now awaiting murder trials that have been there for years,” said Mecklenburg County Sheriff Jim Pendergraph. Pendergraph says the jail is over capacity by 400 inmates- but he is optimistic that an expanded District Attorney's office will ease the workload. He says overall the entire criminal justice system needs more support. “I certainly hope that this is not the end of what's coming. We certainly need a lot more resources here than we have now to work with,” Pendergraph said.
Over time, both Pendergraph and Gilchrist hope more funding is on the way. They say the court system is counting on it. And so are we!!! - News 14 Carolina (Video)