To: Board of County Commissioners
Through: Amy Padden, District Attorney, 18th Judicial District
Prepared By:
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Amy Padden, District Attorney, 18th Judicial District
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presenter
Presenter: Amy Padden, District Attorney, 18th Judicial District
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Subject:
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1:15 PM *2026 DA's Office Budget Requests
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Purpose and Request:
recommended action
In The purpose of the study session is to give the BOCC an analysis and supporting information regarding two budget items that were not approved by the EBC and thus not included in the 2026 budget. These items were both identified in an October 17, 2025 memo to the BOCC, and DA Padden and ADA Brackley attended the October 20th Study Session to address these issues. However, given that the BOCC was reviewing the budget for the entire county at that meeting, there was not time to discuss these requests in much detail. Accordingly, this additional Study Session was scheduled for January 20, 2026, to allow for additional discussion of these issues, and we appreciate the opportunity to address these two very important priorities in more detail with
the Commissioners:
1. The creation of a Conviction (or Justice) Integrity Unit
2. Budget requests for our intern program and other temporary employees.
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Alignment with Strategic Plan: Good Governance - Plan for future service, infrastructure, and fiscal needs.
Background and Discussion:
Conviction Integrity Unit: Ensuring that individuals have been treated fairly throughout our criminal justice process is a key component of criminal justice reform and restoring community confidence in the system. DA Padden has been committed to establishing a conviction integrity unit and had planned to apply for federal grants last year for such a program; however, those grants are no longer available under the new federal administration.
Wrongful convictions reduce community safety and confidence in the criminal justice system. When a wrongful conviction ha...
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