LAWRENCE CO. – Lawrence County Prosecutor Samuel Arp spoke to members of the Lawrence County Council during their monthly meeting on Tuesday, providing them information about his department, including current caseloads.
Currently, Lawrence County prosecuting attorneys have a total of 1,583 active criminal cases between them, which does not include infractions, juvenile, child support, expungements and post conviction relief cases.
Those are shared between:
- Arp – 484 cases, 355 felonies
- Koucouthakis – 337 cases, 322 felonies
- Young – 240 cases, 228 felonies
- Garrett – 213 cases, 179 felonies
- Grant – 178 cases
- Cummings – 131 cases
Overall, Arp said he was pleased with the overall number of cases the department has been faced with, which is a steep reduction from the nearly 4,000 total he said they had at the same time in 2019.
Arp also discussed potential budgeting concerns for his department, with the need for expert witnesses in upcoming trials. According to Arp, an expert witness can sometimes be essential for them during trials, however these witnesses come at a high cost, which he estimates to be around $5,000-10,000, depending on what is needed. He cited an upcoming trial, where they will need to pay an expert, who’s testimony he said is paramount to the case, $350 per hour.
Arp said he had previously pushed for a separate line-item in his budget for such expenses, but had not received approval from the council. As such, those payments must be made from the trial expense budget, which he said totaled $6,000.
With murder charges recently filed against a man in Lawrence County, Shawn Hays, after he allegedly shot and killed his father in Mitchell in December, Arp alerted the council that he could have to return before them at a future meeting to request additional funding for an expert for that trial.
Arp also noted the decline in cases filed, with around 1,200 filed last year, down from around 2,000 in 2019, which he noted as a 43% reduction in crime and recidivism.
