Domestic violence plans at odds

Some say attorney general’s plan calls for too many prosecutors

By RICK BRUNDRETT

Staff Writer

MCMASTER’S, LEGISLATORS’ PROPOSALS

South Carolina’s attorney general is at odds with some solicitors and state lawmakers over his $2.2 million proposal to put a prosecutor in every county to handle domestic violence cases.

Magistrate courts, where most domestic violence cases are heard, typically don’t have prosecutors, and victims often lose their cases, Attorney General Henry McMaster contends.

His plan, which is included in Gov. Mark Sanford’s latest budget proposal, would dedicate a prosecutor to those courts in every county.

But a legislative study committee this week tentatively adopted a different proposal that calls for fewer prosecutors.

And some solicitors expressed concerns about McMaster’s proposal at a House budget writing panel meeting earlier this month. The Ways and Means law enforcement subcommittee will consider the issue again next week.

“We’re not opposed to what he’s doing,” Robert Ariail, the solicitor for Greenville and Pickens counties, said Thursday. “But $2.2 million just isn’t enough to get it done.”

That amount divided equally among the state’s 46 counties comes out to $47,826 for each prosecutor, which would include benefits, according to McMaster’s office. But Ariail said it would be difficult to hire lawyers at that rate, noting the starting salary for young lawyers in his office is $48,000, excluding benefits, which typically total about $10,000.

Another problem with McMaster’s proposal is that it doesn’t distinguish between counties with greater populations and heavier caseloads, Ariail said.

But in an interview Thursday, McMaster disputed that point, explaining some smaller circuits have more reported domestic violence cases than larger circuits. As an example, he said that in 2004, there were 3,082 reported victims in Ariail’s circuit compared with 3,768 reported victims in the much smaller 3rd Circuit of Sumter, Lee, Clarendon and Williamsburg counties.

“I think the rural county solicitors like (my proposal); the urban solicitors don’t,” he said.

McMaster said having a prosecutor in every county would allow that person to work closely with government agencies and other service providers. In the long run, he said it will help break the cycle of violence that consistently has landed South Carolina among the states with the highest domestic violence homicide rates.

“If we don’t have one prosecutor per county ... then we’re never going to get a grip on this problem,” he said.

Laura Hudson, spokeswoman for the S.C. Victim Assistance Network, said her organization supports McMaster’s proposal.

“Is there a way to compromise? Probably,” she said Thursday. “But in every compromise, we want to make sure that when every victim comes to court, there is a prosecutor there.”

A legislative study committee made up of five senators and five representatives gave tentative approval this week to another proposal calling for at least one prosecutor in each of the state’s 16 judicial circuits, though not one in every county.

Committee chairman Sen. Larry Martin, R-Pickens, said Thursday the committee’s main concern with McMaster’s proposal was that in some small counties, there “wouldn’t be an adequate number of cases to warrant that type of prosecutor.”

But after speaking Wednesday with McMaster, Martin said he was “more inclined” to support McMaster’s plan, with the “caveat” that prosecutors could handle circuit court cases if the magistrate workload was light.

A final committee report is due to the Legislature by Feb. 15.

Meanwhile, Rep. Annette Young, R-Dorchester, chairwoman of the Ways and Means budget subcommittee considering McMaster’s proposal, said Thursday she will withhold judgment until she hears from all sides next week.

“$2.2 million — I don’t mind putting it in (the budget) if it’s the right thing to do,” she said.

Reach Brundrett at (803) 771-8484 or rbrundrett@thestate.com.

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