Fairfax Prosecutor Slams Predecessors For Staffing 'Crisis'

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — The Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney warned county leaders of an “unsettling” lack of resources in his office compared to other jurisdictions across Virginia, a dilemma that is making it hard for the office to meet its obligations.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano told the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors' Public Safety Committee that the county is facing “a crisis in our criminal justice system” due to how funding for the office has not kept up with the times.

In his Sept. 22 presentation, Descano questioned why previous commonwealth’s attorneys did not push for more funding for the office in order to provide “ethical and thorough” prosecutions. The Commonwealth's Attorney office in Fairfax County, the largest jurisdiction in Virginia, has the eighth lowest budget out of top 10 largest jurisdictions in the state, he said.

“When I took office, prosecutors didn’t have time to review evidence and meet all their obligations,” Descano said. “One of the primary drivers in the prosecutor’s office was simply clearing dockets.”

Descano won election in November 2019, running as a criminal justice reform candidate. After losing in the Democratic primary election in the summer of 2019, previous Commonwealth's Attorney Ray Morrogh endorsed Descano's Republican opponent in the general election.

The Board of Supervisors sympathized with Descano’s request for more staff but hesitated to endorse his proposal. "These are big numbers," said Supervisor Rodney Lusk of the Lee District, who serves as chairman of the board's Public Safety Committee.

Supervisor James Walkinshaw of the Braddock District, a strong ally of Descano, echoed the comments of other supervisors. "We are all experiencing a bit of sticker shock," Walkinshaw in response to the funding that would be needed to meet the staffing increases proposed by Descano.

Descano emphasized, though, that the previous commonwealth’s attorneys should have come to the supervisors to alert the board of the inadequate staffing of the office. If they had, "we wouldn’t be having this shock moment," he said.

When the commonwealth’s attorney office does not have the proper resources to do its work, “what we have is results that quite frankly potentially innocent people could be wrongly convicted or dangerous people can be left out on the streets making our communities more vulnerable.”

At the meeting, Descano proposed scenarios for adding between 15 and 137 more employees. He showed how commonwealth’s attorney offices in other jurisdictions had more staff per capita and lower ratios of police officers to attorneys.

The extra staff would allow the prosecutor’s office to handle cases involving animal cruelty, obstruction of justice, resisting arrest and domestic violence not involving domestic partners, plus every case in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, Descano said.

Staffing shortages in his office means prosecutors lack sufficient time to review evidence and must farm out much of that work to police officers, Descano said.

“It’s a real shame,” he said. “It never should have gotten this way. ... We wouldn’t be having this ‘shock moment’ with such a big number.”

Deputy County Executive for Public Safety David Rohrer said police officers and detectives should not have the additional case duties placed on them. Rohrer also defended previous Commonwealth’s Attorneys Robert Horan and Ray Morrogh.

“I only observed the highest integrity and ethics by them and their staffs,” Rohrer said. “They were not ignoring the needs in their offices.”