CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Right now in Mecklenburg County, it takes up to six years for someone charged with murder to get before a jury. North Carolina legislators are seeking a solution to improve this delay after a WCNC Charlotte story highlighted the persistent backlog.
Spencer Merriweather, the Mecklenburg County’s district attorney, said he is grateful for pending legislation he believes will mean big changes for his office and the community.
"It's a wonderful innovation that’s come out of Raleigh. I don’t say that often but I'm saying that today," Merriweather said.
The proposed legislation, NC House Bill 695, would introduce 'locality pay,' which would bump up salaries for public defenders and prosecutors based on the cost of living in their city.
"At this time when we’re facing some of the gravest challenges with regard to recruitment and retention, the locality pay would help us a lot," Merriweather said.
Representative Terry Brown, a Democrat representing District 92 in southwestern Mecklenburg County, just introduced the bill that would make this happen.
"It requires having enough [staff] to be able to deal with the backlog our courts have in order to deal with glut," Brown said. "We want to make sure we can hire new folks and keep the folks we do have."
As hundreds of people charged with felonies continue to await trial – with people charged with murder waiting up to six years before facing a jury, the DA said his office is overwhelmed because of the lingering backlog created during the pandemic and ongoing staffing shortages.
Brown said the legislation is his first effort at fixing the backlog that WCNC Charlotte represented to him months ago.
"It's important," Brown feels. "DAs all across the state have shortages."
Merriweather said he has trouble hiring top candidates.
"There have been a number of people, who by the time we get to the point of salary and what I can offer them, have said, 'I want to do this work and I want to do it here but I can't afford it,'" Merriweather recalled.
The federal government already uses this kind of system, and so do most other jurisdictions across the country. North Carolina is one of a few states where court officials are paid through the state and not locally, where pay can be adjusted based on the cost of living.
"It's really about equity," Merriweather explained citing the cost of living difference, for example, between Mecklenburg County and rural counties in North Carolina.
Brown believes it is possible the bill could pass this year. He hopes the bill would give at least something of a break to a badly bogged-down court system.
Right now the Mecklenburg County District Attorney's office has nine open job positions, including one for an assistant district attorney. Merriweather said they are positions they have been struggling to fill.
Merriweather believes locality pay is something that should be used with many other state jobs and not just in the criminal justice field.
Contact Michelle Boudin at mboudin@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.