Elder abuse. Major narcotics. Community prosecution.

These are just a few of the key units in the county district attorney’s office that would be eliminated if the office has to make $13.1 million more in cuts to help balance the county’s budget.

Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully gave the Board of Supervisors a dire outlook Wednesday of how the public would suffer from proposed cuts to the D.A.’s office.

The county’s most recent figure for its budget deficit is $180 million, said Kerri Aiello, a county public information officer.

“Rest assured, with these kind of cuts, if I have to close a $13.1 million gap, justice is not going to be served in this community,” Scully said.

The department would need to make 109 layoffs and remove entire units to fill the $13.1 million hole, she said.

Units that would be entirely removed include major narcotics, community prosecution, special investigation, statutory rape, elder abuse and child abduction.

Scully said other units that would not be eliminated but have already been cut or will be cut include homicides, gangs, domestic violence, adult sexual assault, victim witness advocates, juvenile hall, and special assault and child abuse.

“It’s not a pretty picture,” Scully said.

She explained that the D.A.’s child abduction unit prosecutes cases in which a non-custodial parent violates the law by taking a child from the custodial parent. The proposed budget cuts mean that those particular child abduction cases “likely would not be prosecuted,” Scully said.

She told the county supervisors that serious or violent cases under the major narcotics unit would still be prosecuted by the D.A.’s office. However, she noted that cases involving major narcotics would be folded into a “general felony” category. This means that a major narcotics case “now becomes one case in a caseload of a smorgasbord of crimes,” she said.

Supervisor Roberta MacGlashan asked Scully if she has reason to believe the D.A.’s office would receive federal stimulus funding.

Scully said the office has applied for $10 million in federal stimulus dollars. However, she explained outside the meeting that the she didn’t think it was likely the office would be awarded the entire amount for which it applied. She said the stimulus funds were “too uncertain.”

Two more workshops on the county’s budget crisis will be held this week at the Board of Supervisor’s chambers at 700 H St. Workshops on both Thursday, May 14, and Friday, May 15, will begin at 9:30 a.m.

Here’s a breakdown from Scully on the 109 layoffs:
46 attorneys

18 investigators
6 victim advocates
12 investigative staff
3 criminalists
24 support staffers