LIHUE — The office of the governor released additional funds to support two criminal justice programs maintained by the County of Kauai Office of the Prosecuting Attorney. The funds support salaries and associated costs of victim-witness advocates who provide direct
LIHUE — The office of the governor released additional funds to support two criminal justice programs maintained by the County of Kauai Office of the Prosecuting Attorney.
The funds support salaries and associated costs of victim-witness advocates who provide direct services and support to victims of crimes and witnesses as well as staff prosecutors who handle career criminal prosecution cases, according to the OPA.
The $45,000 released by the state “is a substantial piece of assistance for the office in terms of maintaining those programs,” said Justin Kollar, Kauai prosecuting attorney.
The Victim Witness Assistance Program provides information, assistance and support services to the victims of and witnesses to crimes committed in the state.
“It could be information about the court process, referral to available services, accompanying victims and witnesses to court or assisting with logistics,” Kollar said.
The Career Criminal Prosecution Program was created by the Legislature to address career criminals — typically persons with multiple felony convictions, or those who display a pattern of criminality, Kollar said.
For fiscal year 2015-2016, the OPA received $111,314 for the career criminal program and $37,217 for the victim witness program, according to the OPA. Combined with the additional money, the programs received just under $200,000 for this fiscal year.
That represents a decrease from the 2008-2009 fiscal year in which the OPA received $66,889 for the Victim Witness Assistance Program and $205,306 for the Career Criminal Prosecution Program.
“The state has a lot of priorities to juggle. For whatever reason, funding these programs went down on that list of priorities,” he said. “In the last session, what we as county prosecutors from each of the counties did was try to highlight the list of the programs for the legislators.”
Sen. Will Espero, D-19, Ewa Beach, Senate conference committee chair who recommended the passage of the measure to support the appropriation law, said the Legislature puts higher priority on certain issues — like homelessness — and makes recommendations to cut funds from programs it deems lower on the totem pole.
“The state budget, year to year, is pretty complex and some things are stagnant and status quo and other issues is a concern,” Espero said. “Is there a formula we follow? It’s really just a matter of what the revenue picture’s like; what are the needs; what’s the high priority. That’s just the nature of the beast.”
Regardless of the state’s current appropriation of the OPA’s two criminal justice programs, Kollar appreciates the additional funds.
“The additional funds don’t get us back to 2008-2009, but it’s in the step in the right direction,” he said.
