The cogs of justice grind slowly in Salt Lake County -- more than a month slower than most metropolitan counties nationwide.

Truth is, it takes an average of 160 days for Utah's most-populous county to dole out punishment for the typical wife-beater, home-invader, shoplifter or other wrongdoer. That's at least 33 days longer than the national average, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

But that delay soon could be shortened -- by a lot.

Salt Lake County has received a $745,000 grant through the federal stimulus program to speed up the process. The two-year effort aims to resolve up to a third of all criminal cases within 30 days.

"We need to make sure we have swift and certain sanctions for [criminal] behavior," first-term Salt Lake County District Attorney Lohra Miller said, "to change that behavior in the future."

Although the initiative isn't nearly as high-profile as the recent reopening of Oxbow Jail -- designed as a more "therapeutic" lockup -- criminal-justice experts say its effects could be more profound.

Quicker adjudication could put less pressure on the jail population. It could mean more defendants showing up for court appearances and fewer that the courts have to track down. It could lead to a lower recidivism rate by closing the gap between the punishment and the crime.

"How can we really say we are really doing something to prevent crime when we are just allowing all those [cases] to hang in space out there?" asked Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank. "The idea that we can get people adjudicated and start making a difference before they re-offend is significant. That would be a big step forward for reducing crime."

With the dollars in hand, the county is designing this ramped-up justice system in partnership with judges, police, prosecutors and defense attorneys. The grant will pay for one year of creating the program (2010), a second to implement it (2011) and six personnel to make it all happen.

Yet the initiative has spawned some political intrigue, stemming from Miller's decision to use the grant money to hire three laid-off employees from her husband's law practice. (See accompanying story).

The Republican D.A. defends the move. She insists those staffers are trusted, experienced and well-qualified. Critics counter that the decision, although legal, appears to play favorites with her husband's firm.

Otherwise, the initiative has elicited wide support as a "systemic" reform that could save dollars and reduce a recidivism rate that now hovers 10 percentage points above the national average.

More than a quarter (26 percent) of Salt Lake County offenders commit a new crime within a year of their release, compared with 16 percent nationally, according to federal and county data.

"This is an effort to look at the entire system and how it is working," said David Litvack, a Democratic state legislator who oversees the county's Criminal Justice Advisory Council. It is "breaking it down and rebuilding it. We don't have anything that is tackling the process like this is."

However, Salt Lake City Prosecutor Sim Gill wonders whether the county really needs $745,000 to get the job done.

Before turning to taxpayers, "we have an obligation to make sure we have exhausted the monies that have been allocated to us to achieve those objectives," said Gill, who ran against Miller four years ago and likely will do so again this year.

The game plan for the new program is this: Get every case screened and charges filed within two days of booking. Then get every arrestee into court within seven days.

A team of prosecutors and legal defenders would evaluate the cases, steering offenses that could be resolved easily into a courtroom specializing in speedy adjudication. No suspects would need to hire an attorney at that level, but each could be represented by a legal defender.

Experts believe 30 percent of all cases could be settled within 30 days. The rest would run their course through the traditional court system.

"Anything that speeds up the process is good for everyone," said Daniel Medwed, a criminal-justice professor at the University of Utah. "Even if that 30-day goal is difficult to achieve, it's good to have lofty goals."

Third District Judge Robert Hilder believes the new system can work, so long as law enforcement keeps cases flowing through that pipeline. "There is no question," he said, "that early criminal resolution could change the way we do business."

jstettler@sltrib.com