HANCOCK COUNTY — The Hancock County Council has approved two new positions for the Hancock County Prosecutor’s Office—an additional deputy prosecutor and paralegal.
It’s an update to a statewide problem WRTV Investigates has been tracking for months—the growing Attorney Shortage.
In December 2023, we showed you Hancock County had a total of seven prosecutors for a county serving more than 80,000 people.
RELATED VIDEO | Attorney shortage puts public safety at risk
They’ve since added one more, bringing them to eight total prosecutors.
According to a new analysis from Eaton’s office and the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council, Hancock County should have 13 prosecutors to be adequately staffed.
On January 30, Hancock County prosecutor Brent Eaton appeared before the county commissioners and council to plead for more positions.
Eaton said the addition of a deputy prosecutor and paralegal will help address staffing issues.
“This action gives me hope that our County Council members are taking the staffing shortfalls of the Prosecutor’s Office seriously,” said Prosecutor Brent Eaton. “Our staffing levels fall far below recommendations set by the Indiana Prosecuting Attorney Council and that has a profound effect on our ability to perform our duties to ensure local public safety.”
Prosecutor Eaton said the addition of two positions is not a complete solution.
"To reach the staffing levels recommended for our community, we still need three more full-time attorneys, three additional paralegals, and an investigator," said Eaton.
The Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council (IPAC) says Indiana needs 440 prosecutors to be adequately staffed, which would cost an estimated $53 million in state funding to rectify.
Only 11% of Indiana counties have adequate staffing to meet its workload, WRTV Investigates found.
Prosecutor Eaton has asked the County Council to appoint a local task force to study the issues facing the office and develop a long-term sustainability plan.
The shortage is burning out the staff Eaton does have, like Chief Deputy Prosecutor Aimee Herring, who estimates she worked more than 500 hours of unpaid overtime in 2023—hours for which she does not receive any additional compensation.
The average salary (not starting) for a deputy prosecutor in Indiana is $69,777, according to IPAC.
Meanwhile, the typical law school graduate carries $130,000 in education debt.
Meanwhile, the typical law school graduate carries $130,000 in education debt.
“We can’t keep up at this pace,” said Herring. “We're already in crisis mode in our office. We're just treading water and it's only going to get worse."
Rural Indiana is special, but it’s also the hardest hit by the state’s attorney shortage.
WRTV Investigates reached out to them for comment and we are still waiting to hear back.
You can watch our entire series here: Attorney Shortage.
