This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The crime wave that Salt Lake County District Attorney Lohra Miller presented in pushing for more prosecutors appears to be more fiction than fact.
A closer look at the Republican D.A.'s data reveals no rise in criminal cases.
To the contrary, felonies have fallen during the past three years, criminal cases are at a five-year low, and total filings have declined steadily since 2003, according to the state courts.
The July-to-July numbers contradict Miller's claims of escalating crime, which she used to coax an extra $1.3 million, including four new prosecutors, from the County Council last week.
They also show that Miller reported an inflated number of felonies to the council for 2007 - 9,880 cases, compared with the actual 8,369 cases.
"We need to resurrect the issue," Democratic County Councilman Jim Bradley said Monday. "The council doesn't want to be duped or lied to for any reason. We can differ on solutions, but we don't differ on facts."
Miller stands by her stats and maintains that the county has suffered a real rise in crime. While the trend may not appear in the court's database, she reported that the Salt Lake County jail processed more first-degree felonies in the first nine months of 2007 than during all of last year - suggesting a spike in the severity of crime.
The first-year district attorney also noted her office has screened 10,262 criminal cases through October - a 17.4 percent jump from the same period in 2006 and 1,000 cases higher than at similar times during the past four years.
Combine those factors with her staff's labor load (217 cases per prosecutor) and Miller said her office is desperately overworked.
"All of those things have put a drain on the resources of this office," she said. "We need this additional staff to allow us to maintain the same services."
As for the bloated number of felonies reported to the council, Miller said she used "anticipated" filings for the year without realizing the state courts had released hard numbers.
Miller tapped the state courts' database in her own defense Monday, pointing to figures from the first seven months of this year, instead of stats from July 2006 to July 2007.
Her partial-year tally counted 5,140 felony filings between January and July - up 8.9 percent from the same period in 2006 and slightly higher than the 5,023 cases filed during the same time frame the year before.
Even Democratic Sheriff Jim Winder reports an apparent uptick in violent offenses countywide, although he cannot empirically demonstrate a crime wave.
The new court numbers are creating a stir on the GOP-led council, where Democrats. who advocated a smaller increase for the District Attorney's Office, but lost along a 5-3 party-line vote, are urging action.
Councilman Joe Hatch has petitioned Democratic Mayor Peter Corroon to veto the D.A.'s 2008 budget bump.
Bradley wants his colleagues to reconsider Miller's resources, and Councilwoman Jenny Wilson said she is "concerned about moving forward" without better numbers.
Even some Republicans are reeling at the revelation.
"Without a doubt, it would change my feelings," GOP Councilman David Wilde said. "Whether it would cause me to reopen this, I'm not willing to go that far. I'd have to hear both sides of the story."
The Salt Lake Tribune became aware of the data discrepancy after a tip from within the District Attorney's Office - yet another sign of low morale within an agency that has lost 15 prosecutors since Miller replaced longtime Democratic D.A. David Yocom in January.
Some prosecutors left for better pay, shorter hours and more flexibility. Others bolted because of Miller's administration, according to Tribune interviews with departed prosecutors.
Still, Miller has council allies. Republican Councilman Jeff Allen said the existence of a crime wave is irrelevant when considering that workload at the District Attorney's Office already is higher than the American Bar Association's standard of 150 cases per felony prosecutor and the national average of 92 cases per prosecutor.
"The resources used in the last several years," Allen said, "haven't been sufficient."
And GOP colleague Mark Crockett said his decision was based less on crime statistics than on helping Miller do her job until the county develops a criminal-justice master plan.
Corroon acknowledged Monday he will consider vetoing the D.A.'s budget and take the new numbers into account. But that's a discussion for December, when the council is expected to approve the 2008 budget.
Between now and then, Miller will have some questions to answer.
"This issue," Hatch said, "is not over."
* The Salt Lake County Council plans to approve the 2008 budget in mid-December.
* The proposed $1.3 million spending boost for the District Attorney's Office could undergo further scrutiny before then.